Naruto Gaiden
by 62635377
Summary: Jiraiya is killed while on the training leave, Naruto is taken in by a strange man and trained. Follow Naruto's journey as he puts this new training to use as a ninja. Pairings NaruxTema SasuxSaku
1. The Sage

I don't own Naruto.

**Bold is supernatural speech.**

_Italics are thoughts, flashback, the like._

_**This whole story is what I've been doing since I have been experiencing major writer's block for my other stories.  
**_

-Chapter One: The Sage-

Naruto had spent one year with Jiraiya out of the village, and now Jiraiya was laying in Naruto's arms dying.

"Kid…you got…two of them…Good." Jiraiya hacked up more blood.

"Ero-sensei! You can't die! Hold on a little longer and I'll get you to the next village!" Naruto tried to stand, but Jiraiya shook his head.

"This is it for me…I want to tell…you who your father was." Jiraiya said. "The Fourth Hokage. Namikaze Minato." Jiraiya looked at the boy. "He was your dad. And he'd be as proud as I am." Those were the last word of the Sannin Jiraiya. Naruto sobbed, his teacher was dead, he was exhausted, and there was nothing he could do. He cried until he passed out.

Awakening, Naruto's eyes opened slowly and rebelled when the bright ceiling light was seen. Naruto put his hand over his face, standing up. His eyes adjusted to the light, he saw the clothing sitting on the stool, he changed into the black gi and pants, tying the belt around his waist. He couldn't find his kunai pouch, but found his satchel and put it on his belt.

When he walked outside he saw a man practicing with a knife. The dark skinned man moved the knife in a way that made Naruto cringe from just watching it, he would be disemboweling and maiming people. The man stopped, sheathed his knife and turned.

"I see you're awake. I sent a letter to your village, I told them that I'll be replacing your late-sensei. What exactly happened to put Jiraiya of the Sannin in that condition?" The man's voice was young despite his elderly appearance. He was short, about Five foot three, still an inch taller than Naruto, he had skin that was tan and scarred from much of what he assumed to be combat, his eyes were black and piercing, but he seemed to be a kind man.

_-Flashback-_

_Naruto and Jiraiya were training in Taijutsu while on a lake, Naruto tried to find a hole in the defense, but it didn't happen. Suddenly Jiraiya moved aside, and a kunai came whizzing past. Four figures walked from the woods. The first was a large scorpion puppet, the next was a blond man, the third and fourth he recognized as Hoshigaki Kisame and Uchiha Itachi. _

_Naruto and Jiraiya fell into fighting stances, Naruto had progressed well in one year, but Jiraiya was unsure of whether he was ready to face such odds. Jiraiya ran through seals, and suddenly he shouted: "Doton! Art of Earthen Prison!" The blond man suddenly sank into the ground, the ground compacted and smashed the man. _

_The Scorpion puppet fired projectile weapons at the two, Naruto jumped and Jiraiya let himself sink into the water. This was his downfall however as Kisame imprisoned him in the Art of Water Prison._

"_Naruto! Use it!" Jiraiya shouted, Naruto nodded and placed his hands together in a seal. Kisame smirked and ran Jiraiya through with his Samehada._

"_Die old man." _

"_Nine Tails Phantom! Release!" Naruto shouted. At first nothing happened, but then red chakra began seeping from Naruto's stomach, and then it formed into a large Nine Tailed fox made purely of chakra. _

_The first thing that happened was Kisame's prison was dashed to pieces by the huge claw that slashed his chest open. The second was the Scorpion puppet exploded for no discernable reason. Itachi saw that his three teammates had been slain and immediately fled, not waiting to incur the wrath of the boy who could wield the nine tails. _

_Naruto pulled his teacher to the shore of the lake._

"_Come on Sensei, you can't die on me!"_

_-Flashback: End-_

"I see, then you can use the demon's chakra. Well, that's not the point yet, I'm going to teach you how to kill. But I will also teach you how to save lives." The man said. He smiled at Naruto. "You will stay here for three years, train from dusk till dawn and you'll learn from every second of it." The man smiled.

"Alright, did you know Ero-sensei?" Naruto asked.

"You bet I did… I'm his little brother." Naruto gawked at this.

"WHAT?! YOU'RE JIRAIYA'S LITTLE BROTHER?!" Naruto shouted.

"Yup, you're looking at the only remaining person from the Hashin lineage. The name is Hashin Kaisho."

"Namikaze Naruto." Naruto introduced himself with his father's last name, the one he'd use from now on.

"Well then let's get started. Now I want to tell you the name of the art you'll be using. It's called Mushin No Shin Ryu. You will find it is different from any other combat art in existence. You will also find that even the simplest movements can kill when used right." Kaisho smirked. "That is the basis for this whole art. Movement. You can impose change on your enemy through movement, I'll show you. Attack me." Naruto lunged, and when he punched something amazing happened.

Kaisho shifted his feet and the punch passed by harmlessly, he then settled into a horse stance and with a palm strike sent Naruto sprawling.

"You strike when it presents itself." Naruto got up and tried again, this time it was a kick, Kaisho stepped back and when the kick came full swing, he captured Naruto in a rear naked choke. He pushed Naruto away. "You never let your enemy off your center." Naruto attacked again, this time he swore he hit, only to realize that a fist had lodged in his stomach before he hit. Naruto fell to his knees and threw up.

"Naruto, listen when I speak, you'll learn things." Kaisho said.

"I am!"

"Then prove it." Naruto stood back up, he stood perfectly still when Kaisho attacked him. Naruto dodged the blow, and when he went to strike, it was blocked and he felt his legs swept from under him. "Don't try to strike, just do it. It should be like walking." Naruto stood again, and this time he got even closer to hitting the man. Every time, Naruto would get close, and then fail.

That was how Naruto's training went for a very long time, nearly two months. After that Naruto began learning techniques, he mastered every technique that Kaisho threw at him. In a year he was using sticks, these were substitute for the blades created for this style. He also used short sticks made to simulate knives. He trained like this for the second year. For the third year, he simply perfected what he had learned before, using real blades.

The swords this style used was a ninja-to, but they were modified to be slightly shorter, the blade was the same length, but the handle was about two centimeters shorter_** (One inch does make a difference.)**_ The blade he had was black from point to pommel, the hilt was square and depicted the nine tail fox. He carried a single one on his back, as well as two knives.

The knives were black from pommel to point. The handles were steel wrapped in black cord, not like Katana, but a cord wrapped all the way around. The blades were straight and ended in a spear point. The blades were single edged, and the knife was about twenty five centimeters in length, they boasted a fifteen centimeter blade.

Each maneuver practiced with these blades, or barehanded were fluid and precise, as well as lightning fast. Naruto preferred his knives, but also liked his sword.

He wore the same clothes as when he began training, but the outfit was bigger, and he'd also obtained a pair of boots and kote, as well as the mask and shirt that Kakashi wore. In three years Naruto had totally recreated himself, he spent his time learning Ninjutsu from the Nine Tails, and taijutsu, stealth and medical jutsu from Kaisho.

It was finally time, Naruto had completed his training, and he'd go back into the world of ninja. Kaisho bid him farewell, gave him supplies to finish his journey, and set him off.

-One Week later-

Naruto made his way to the gate, and jumped atop it after identifying himself.

"Seems it hasn't changed a bit. Yup, I'm finally home!" Naruto grinned beneath his mask. He looked over the village, he'd changed more than it had.

He jumped down from his perch and began wandering the streets, looking for something to do. He heard a pair of voices he'd recognized. It was Nara Shikamaru and Gaara's sister. Naruto approached them.

"Do I know you?" Shikamaru asked.

"You should, I am after all Konoha's most unpredictable ninja." Naruto smirked under his mask.

"Naruto?! Man it's been so long!"

"Four years is indeed a long time."

"Wait, Naruto as in the kid that beat my brother all those years ago Naruto?" Temari looked at the ninja in front of her, the hair color was right, and the eyes, but everything else was wrong.

"That's the one." Shikamaru said. "Let's go get some food, it's about lunch time. You coming Naruto? My treat." Shikamaru would soon learn to regret those words. Naruto grinned.

"Hey Temari-san, can you hold this for a second?" Naruto asked, handing his sword to her. "It's like an oven under this gi." Naruto shrugged out of it, tying the sleeves of the thick piece of clothing around his waist over his belt.

"_He's got the body of a God!" _Were Temari's thoughts, as well as many of the surrounding females. Naruto had forgotten that the sleeveless shirt/mask was in fact skin tight; He ignored the fact and they continued walking anyway.

"It's not that bad Naruto. It's only like eighty out here." Shikamaru said.

"You didn't spend the last three years training in mountains with the same thing you're wearing in said eighty degree weather."

"Good point. Seems you'll need a thinner gi." Shikamaru said, looking around he spotted the clothing store. "How much money do you have on you?" Naruto realized that he was in fact broke. "No problem, they're not that expensive anyway." Shikamaru shrugged. "But you owe me one Naruto."

"Sure." Naruto nodded, and they stepped inside the store.

Naruto exited with the lighter cloth over his body, and the thicker winter gi over his shoulder. They stopped at the Ichiraku ramen shop for lunch and talked about the changes in Konoha.

"It does seem however that you'll need to find some new housing arrangements, the entire apartment complex burned down." Shikamaru informed the teenager.

"Do you know what happened?" Naruto asked.

"There was a fight between some ninja. One used a fire jutsu and set the building on fire. There was seven casualties, none were ninja. Mostly it was property damage, both ninja who were fighting are currently serving six months in jail."

"Damn, this is going to take some work, Finding a new house I mean."

"The Hokage said that when you returned you were to report to her. So after lunch you should get over there." Shikamaru finished up his bowl. By this time Naruto had already finished three bowls. "And also remind me never to take you for lunch. Only Chouji eats this much."

"Alright, well I've got to go then, I'll see you later. Thanks a lot Shikamaru." Naruto said. "It was nice seeing you again Temari-san." Naruto then got up and left.

"So Temari, you gonna go after him?" Shikamaru smirked. The blush on her face was immediate proof that Shikamaru was in fact right.

"W-what do you mean?" Temari had never been one to give in to her emotions.

"I saw the way you were looking at him. I know you think he's goof looking. He's a loyal guy too, never seen one more loyal than him. I say go for it."

"You're an idiot." Inwardly Temari was considering it, she had seen how far he would go for his friends, and for his village. _"I'll have to find out more about this guy."_ She thought.

Naruto walked to the Hokage tower and made his way up to the Office.

"Hey Tsunade-sama." Naruto smirked. She looked up at the ninja.

"So you're finally back huh? It seems that Kaisho managed to knock some respect into you." Tsunade looked at Naruto. "Well as you may or may not know, you'll be needing a new house. I've got something lined up for you." She handed him a piece of paper. Naruto read the paper, it was a proof of lineage. Naruto was looking at the deed to the Namikaze land. "It's only a few acres, but I've already had construction workers begin on the house. You'll have a two story house built on five acres."

"I don't even know what to do with that much house." Naruto said. "But what about until the house is finished?"

"You will be staying with Hatake Kakashi. It will only be a month until your home is complete, so you won't have to put up with him for very long."

"Maybe I can get him to show up on time for once." Naruto chuckled.

"We'll need to test your skills, go to the ANBU headquarters, they'll direct you to the course." Naruto nodded, thanked her and left. He had finally returned home.

-Chapter One: End-


	2. The Power

I don't own Naruto.

**Bold is supernatural speech.**

_Italics are thoughts, flashback, the like. _

-Chapter Two: The Power-

Naruto had woken early and went over to the ANBU headquarters. They had a special underground training area to preserve the secrets of the ANBU. Naruto showed up and followed the man that was to guide him.

Currently he was standing in front of the most insane looking obstacle course he'd ever seen.

"You have one hour to complete the course and neutralize all threats within. Start when you're ready." Naruto nodded and began immediately. The first thing was a wall, it was neither tall nor incredibly imposing, but the fact that large spikes would make their presence known at random times was worrisome. Naruto cleared the wall, getting a look at the whole course, he nodded and jumped down the wall. Landing on a foot thick log he ran across quickly, and dodged the kunai that nearly struck his temple. Drawing his sword he blocked the incoming kodachi from the ANBU, he elbowed the man across the face, splitting the mask. Naruto ran along, using the square hilt to assist him in his vault over the next wall. He jumped up and caught the bar above the wall, Looking around he found his next obstacle, a large log sticking from the ground, he landed on it and quickly dropped down.

Three ANBU met him as he landed, he put his sword away and drew his knives. The first brought the sword down at an angle, Naruto dodged outside the blade and struck the throat of the ANBU with the butt of the knife. The next one attacked from behind and nearly hit the boy, but also felt the pommel of the knife. The final ANBU attempted a knee to the face, but Naruto leaned back and punched the man in the groin.

Naruto made his way over several more obstacles before coming to a maze. The maze was roofed and pitch black save for small lights that gave off the amount of light one would get from a match placed at random intervals throughout the whole place. Naruto let his senses guide him, all through the maze he would find depressions in the walls, and occasionally he would find ninja waiting to ambush him.

The ninja had masked her presence as best as any could, but Naruto could still feel her, he stood with eyes closed, and with a single word he startled the hiding ANBU.

"Come." The ANBU steeled herself and attacked, with no room for the kodachi she used the tanto that was sheathed in the end of the sword's scabbard.

Naruto sensed the motions, he redirected her arm by pushing his forearm on hers, with a ridge hand blow to the side of the head she fell to the ground unconscious.

Naruto continued through the maze with his eyes closed his vision did him no good here. He had learned to navigate blind because if he were to be in a place where mist ninja were using their techniques or somewhere like a jungle where dark reigns after dusk he couldn't use his eyes.

The next ANBU fell without knowing it, Naruto sensed the person before the ANBU sensed him. He covered the man's mouth and choked him out. Finally he reached the end of the maze, and was confronted by nearly ten ANBU, he readied himself with his sword.

Two ANBU attacked at once, Naruto dropped and rolled backwards, as he stood he saw the ninja were still approaching so he moved one way and struck quickly with his sword, leaving a shallow but debilitating cut, the second man was knocked away with a punch.

Another ANBU caught Naruto by surprise and managed to actually land a blow on Naruto, the blade slid across his cheek under his left eye, Naruto caught the handle, pulled and with an uppercut to the elbow effectively neutralized the man.

The sword made a great distraction, Naruto threw it and as the ANBU blocked it he swung low, kicking the man's leg with his shin, destroying bone and muscle. Several more came at once, Naruto jammed his sword in the ground, using it as a vault he launched himself up into the air. Many ANBU followed but didn't expect the knives.

Naruto's blades blocked swords, and cut through cloth and flesh, two ANBU were defeated in the airborne combat. Naruto hit the ground and came up with a blow to the chin of the final ANBU.

Pulling his sword out of the ground he walked across the finish line, hitting the buzzer on his way.

"Fifty four minutes!" One of the ANBU shouted, medics immediately went to work looking for ninja who were injured. Only five or six out of the full twenty five were injured enough that they needed medical attention. A few broken bones and lacerations, nothing life threatening.

"Well Naruto-san, it seems that you're of ANBU level easily. I've never seen anyone fight that efficiently. I'm Yamato, the current ANBU captain." Yamato said. "What style are you using?"

"Mushin No Shin Ryu." Yamato's eyes were wide open.

"You were taught by Kaisho-sama?!"

"Well if you want to call it that. It was more like learn or die." Naruto shrugged. "So when will I be starting my missions?"

"We can start as soon as you get your mask. Regulations state that you have to wear a standardized uniform, so we'll have to get that as well, but you may be able to start soon."

The next few hours were Naruto filling out paperwork and getting his uniform sized up properly. He chose a fox mask, figuring it would be appropriate for him. Foxes were ironically Naruto's favorite animal. To him they represented the baser meaning of the arts of ninja. Though smaller than it's cousins the wolf and coyote, the fox managed to survive using cunning and speed.

Leaving the headquarters Naruto went over to the Hokage's tower, he wasn't required to wear his mask until his inauguration, which would take place in a week.

"So Tsunade-sama, what's my first mission?" Naruto asked.

"Temari will need an escort back to her village after your inauguration, we also need a ninja to stay there for two months, if you'd like you could be the ambassador for Konoha and during your two months there you may be able to take missions for Suna, and while here you could also take missions."

"Sounds good." Naruto said. "Say, do you know where she is? I've been meaning to ask her something." the soon to be ANBU had planned to ask her about her brother.

"She usually gets tea at Han's about now. You know the tea house by the hot springs?"

"Yeah, thanks." Naruto nodded and left.

Temari was enjoying a fairly normal schedule for her days here in Konoha, that was until she saw Naruto come in.

"_So you gonna go for him?"_ Shikamaru's words echoed in her head. She began blushing. Then she noticed he was walking over to her.

"Hey Naruto-kun. I never pictured you to be one much for tea." Temari said.

"Well Temari-san, I do in fact love tea, my favorites are Green tea and jasmine." Naruto smiled under his mask. "I came to ask you about Gaara's well being." Temari was shocked when Naruto got to the point.

"He's been doing well, he's opening up a little. He's more social to a point. I think being Kazekage has sort of forced patience on him."

"He's Kazekage now?" Naruto hadn't ever predicted that Gaara would be in any position of authority.

"Yeah, he was the only person that could meet both the power and intelligence aspects."

"You seem to be an intelligent person Temari-san." Naruto saw the blush on her face deepen.

"But Gaara's more suited for the job. I couldn't stand the position." She couldn't believe that Naruto had just complimented her so openly.

"Apparently I'm going to serve as Konoha's ambassador now, I'm supposed to be going with you to Suna next week after my formal introduction into ANBU."

"You're going to be an ANBU?" Temari gawked. _"Cute and strong."_ She wondered where the thoughts kept coming from.

"Yup, they tested me earlier, and I passed. I've got my mask and they took measurements for my uniform, now I just wait." Naruto ordered some tea for himself. They sat and talked for a while longer.

"I'm sorry but I'm supposed to meet Ino soon, so I'll have to go." She reached for her wallet.

"Don't worry, I've got it." Naruto retrieved his own wallet.

"I thought you didn't have any money?" Naruto grinned, his mask was down to drink his tea.

"That's because I just drew this out of my father's bank account. I didn't have any until I got access to my father's stuff." Naruto set the money down. "I want to go see her, It's been a while since I've surprised anyone."

"Who's your father?"

"The fourth Hokage was my father."

"That's yet another thing you have in common with Gaara. The fourth Kazekage sealed the demon in him. And it happened to be our father."

When they met with Ino, Sakura was with her as well.

"So who's your friend Temari?" Ino asked, looking at Naruto.

"You should know him. He was on Sakura's team. And how many people have bright neon blond hair in this village?" Then it suddenly clicked.

"Naruto?!" Sakura shouted. Naruto pulled his mask down. Temari leaned over and whispered into Ino's ear.

"You should see his body. It's absolutely amazing." Ino looked at her questioningly.

"This is Naruto we're talking about."

"So ladies, what're we saying about me over here?" Both girls jumped, Sakura laughed.

"Well Temari was commenting on your apparently amazing body." Temari blushed.

"I don't think much of it."

"Well let's see what she was talking about." Ino ordered. Naruto shrugged, removing his gi he saw two jaws drop, and Temari's face simply turned redder.

"**Kit, it seems you've got a gift there."** Kyuubi said from inside.

"Naruto… When did you get to be so amazingly hot?" Ino was always unusually blunt. Naruto put his gi back on.

"Well Ino, if you spend three years with Kaisho sensei then you'd understand. Now that I've had my fill of surprises today, I think I'll go find Kakashi, I'm supposed to stay with him for a while." Naruto stood up and left.

"You weren't kidding, he does have an amazing body." Ino said.

"I told you." they looked at Sakura who had been surprisingly quiet.

"What?"

"Your nose is bleeding Sakura." Sakura's face then turned a color that quickly hid the fact. "It seems that Sakura's got a bit of a crush. What about Sasuke?" Ino teased the girl.

"I do not like Naruto… Not that way."

"Your face tells all forehead." Ino nodded. "Better act quick, I'm sure he'll quickly become the new heartthrob of the village looking like that." Ino was even thinking of claiming him for herself. Unknown to all three, each of them was thinking the same thing.

Naruto walked to Kakashi's, oblivious of his effect on the girls he found the man's house. He knocked. Nothing. Knocking again. Still nothing. Finally he stepped back, and with a powerful kick, he smashed the door down. He quickly wished he didn't. He saw Kakashi's head and bare back, and a purple mop of hair.

"The Hokage says I'm supposed to live here until my house is finished." Naruto began. "I'll come back in a few hours." Naruto reached into the house and put the door back into place.

After he went and bought a whole new doorway for Kakashi, he returned. Pushing the door over he saw Kakashi sitting, reading a book.

"Sorry about the door, I got you a new one." Naruto held up a sealing scroll which had all the supplies, he made a clone to work on the doorway. "I didn't ruin anything did I?"

"No, it's happened before." Kakashi shrugged. "Anko and I are used to it."

"ANKO?!" Naruto shouted. "The crazy snake chick?"

"That's the one. It's a funny story how we hooked up actually. We went drinking, and when we woke up together the next morning, we decided to see what we'd missed, and decided to stick together."

"That's an interesting story, I guess." Naruto asked him about the book."

"Well since Jiraiya died, I can't read my usual material, plus Anko insists that she could satisfy my needs for perversion."

"So you've taken to reading normal books. Better than peeping at the bath house."

"True. So do you have your eye on anyone?"

"Not in particular. I think I'll worry about that after my schedule is steadied out. I made ANBU."

"Ah, well then you probably won't have much time for ladies for a while." Kakashi said. "you'll be required to do at least four missions a month. Most of them will be about a week long."

"I'll figure it out eventually. That's how my life's always been." Naruto shrugged. They continued their conversation like that for a while.

-??-

Uchiha Sasuke was running. Why was he running? Because the container of the Eight tails was on a rampage induced by him, and now that his comrades were all dead, he had to escape.

Finally managing to escape, he was now sitting by himself, his sword leaning against his shoulder. He didn't find it possible for one person to be so strong.

_Naruto, are you like this now?_ He thought, remembering how his former teammate had always seemed to have unlimited strength. He sighed, running had exhausted him. _Where will I go now? I've no desire to destroy Konoha anymore, it seems like it just disappeared._ Sasuke got up and began walking.

-Chapter Two: End-


	3. The Lost Cat

_I don't Own Naruto, I do own Kaisho._

_**Bold is supernatural speech.**_

_Italics are thoughts, flashbacks, the like._

-Chapter Three: The Lost Cat-

Naruto was standing in front of all the ANBU and his friends.

"And now, presenting the youngest ANBU since Hatake Kakashi, meet Namikaze Naruto!" Yamato held out his hand. "At sixteen he managed to pass the course in fifty four minutes, leaving only minor injuries, he's been trained by the legendary Hashin Kaisho, as well as his elder brother the late Hashin Jiraiya. Naruto's accomplished a lot in a little time. And he'll help us accomplish much more." They all clapped as Yamato presented Naruto his mask. People began chanting speech. Naruto shrugged.

"You know, there's not much to say, this is another step to becoming Hokage, and I couldn't have done it without my friends who helped me the whole way. I was there when Sensei died, he killed one of the members of Akatsuki, they travel in pairs, and the other man escaped, but not before killing Jiraiya." Naruto had made up this report because he didn't want people to know he had found a way to use more than four tails of the Nine Tail's chakra.

"I've seen many people die, and I want to end it. If that means I have to kill, then I will, but I also want to save lives and bring peace." Naruto shrugged, "That's all folks." Everyone began clapping.

There was a party afterward, the ninja were all celebrating their new comrade. It was very rarely that new ANBU joined actually, all in all there was about one hundred and fifty, not even one fifth of the total ninja population of approximately four thousand. The total city population was five thousand, and many civilians that were still so were often ineligible or unwilling to be ninja.

By the end of the party, most of the people there were plastered. Iruka, Shikamaru and Naruto were the only sober members.

"So Naruto, you've downed five bottles, how in God's name are you still sober?" Shikamaru asked.

"I have a very special ability." Naruto tapped his stomach. "And it burns off all the alcohol."

"**Well not all of it… About ninety eight percent. You have about the equivalent of two cups of sake in your system."** The fox corrected.

"I see." Shikamaru knew about the Nine tails, but found it too troublesome to mention the fact.

"Sooo…. Naruto, how are things going with you and Temari?" Shikamaru laughed as the sake came from his nose.

"There's nothing going on between us!" Naruto wiped his nose. That burned.

"It's a shame, she was saying 'he seems like a great guy, he's loyal, and he's got a great body!' I think you should go for it." Shikamaru was playing matchmaker for one reason. When that woman came to the village he didn't have to spend his time escorting her around. He could sleep.

"I think you're lying." Naruto said. Shikamaru drank his tea.

"Have I ever misled you Naruto? It would be too troublesome." Naruto shrugged. Shikamaru was an honest person.

The party slowly dissipated, Naruto was the last to leave. Walking down the street, he sensed something. Turning he saw a man standing there.

"Hello Sasuke. Come to take me out in my own home have you?" Naruto saw that he had been beaten to a pulp, his clothes were in tatters.

"No, I want to come home." Sasuke said.

"Uchiha Sasuke, the world's first S-class missing ninja that came back home. Come on, we're staying at the Uchiha place today. Anko's at Kakashi's house." Naruto turned and they walked towards the Uchiha manor.

"Why are you staying with Kakashi?" Sasuke asked. Naruto explained the situation. "I see. Fine then, we'll go to my house."

"Did you ever kill your brother?"

"I did. My new goal is to rebuild my clan. And to build it the right way." Sasuke explained the truth of the Uchiha massacre.

"Well then, we'll take you to go see Tsunade-sama tomorrow afternoon." They then went to what Naruto was calling his home for the night.

Morning came fairly quickly, Naruto dressed and went in search of Sasuke. He found him sitting in the courtyard drinking tea.

"That's a nifty toy you've got there." Naruto said, pointing to the Kusanagi.

"You look to have some new toys yourself. You're ANBU now?"

"As of yesterday night." Naruto flicked the mask that was sitting on the top of his head. "I start my duties tomorrow. My first mission is to be the ambassador for Konoha. I'm supposed to spend three months in Suna." Naruto grinned. "If Tsunade lets you resume ninja duties what do you think you'll do?"

"Hmm." Sasuke began. "I think I'll take the ANBU test. Just so you don't show me up too bad." He smirked. "Let's go get some breakfast. I'm starved." Sasuke had changed his outfit so that he was now wearing an outfit very similar to Naruto's but he had no mask and there was a small Uchiha crest beneath the collar on the back. And he was wearing ninja sandals instead of boots. They went in search of breakfast.

After breakfast, they decided to go see Tsunade.

"Come in." Tsunade said to the knock at the door.

"Hey Tsunade-sama, I've found our lost kitten." Naruto said as they came in. Sasuke walked in and smirked.

"Yo."

"So where'd you find him?"

"He caught me on the way back from the party." Naruto shrugged. "Remind me to never let Temari have alcohol again."

"What to do with him though?"

"I say we test him and align him with whatever group needs him."

"But you realize that he was a missing ninja for nearly three years."

"Technically so is Rin." Naruto smirked. "Didn't think I knew she was still alive huh? What d'you think Kakashi would say if he found out your little secret? I say we let him back onto the force." Tsunade glared at the boy.

"Fine, but if he does anything stupid I'm holding you responsible. I'll have him do the test tomorrow. Or you could test him."

"Sure. It's been a good while since I've had a good match anyway." Naruto looked at his long lost friend. "Let's go do testing Sasuke. I'll be back with a report in a few hours."

"Alright, don't hurt yourself, you're supposed to leave tomorrow." Tsunade waved them off. She began on her paperwork. Mostly mission reports, and an application from Kakashi to re-join the ANBU force.

Naruto and Sasuke were standing face to face, about ten feet away from each other. Naruto stood, his hands resting in front of him as if they were on a cane, his feet were about shoulder width apart. Sasuke was intrigued and proceeded with caution. As a safety measure he activated his Sharingan, and immediately wished he hadn't.

All around him were hundreds of phantom Naruto, each moving to attack from every direction. He deactivated his clan's eyes. _"How can he move so many ways from such a relaxed looking stance?" _Sasuke drew his sword and made to attack.

That was when it happened. Sasuke's sword was suddenly thrown from his grip and he was on his back with a knife pressed against his throat.

"Got you." Naruto moved back, allowing Sasuke to get up. He stepped back and Sasuke took the initiative again, Naruto ducked the blade, as he tried for an elbow strike Sasuke kneed him in the chin.

Naruto took the blow and rolled back, when he came up he did a back handspring to gain more distance. He drew his sword, standing with it in his front hand, feet still shoulder width apart. He was in a bladed stance now.

"My turn!" Naruto was gone so fast that Sasuke could barely block, even then the blow sent him stumbling.

Naruto continued his assault, knocking the sword away, he took Sasuke in one arm as he sheathed his own.

Sasuke struggled against Naruto's powerful arm, Naruto sheathed his sword and used his other arm, taking Sasuke's shoulder and neck he flipped Sasuke onto the ground. From there he began to choke Sasuke with the rear naked choke, Sasuke quickly tapped out, when they stood up, Sasuke grinned.

"You're good at hand to hand, but how about your jutsu?" Sasuke flashed through seals. **"Art of the Fireball!"** Sasuke launched the small sun in Naruto's direction.

Naruto dodged the ball, and made his own seals **"Art of Ice spikes!" **Many spires of ice grew from the ground, each trying to impale Sasuke at a different angle. Sasuke jumped away.

"**Art of Dragon Fire!"** Sasuke launched the massive dragon of fire at his adversary. Naruto dispelled this with his **"Art of Water Shield"**. Naruto made to attack close again. He caught the first arm as it barreled toward his head, and then took the other, he slammed Sasuke into the ground.

"I win Sasuke." He stood up. Offering Sasuke a hand he helped the ninja up. "I'd say at least a high Jounin level, about my skill level."

"But you beat me."

"There's two reasons for that. The first being that I move more efficiently than you. Second, my elemental affinities oppose yours. Wind and Water oppose Fire and Lightning."

"I see." Sasuke looked to his side to notice they'd attracted an audience. Iruka, many of the original gennin teams from their year, Kakashi, Temari and Tsunade were watching. As well as several ANBU.

"So Tsunade-sama, what do you think?" Naruto looked at his boss.

"I think your observation was correct. Go pack your stuff, you're leaving tomorrow. I'll take care of Sasuke's paperwork." Tsunade waved him off.

Naruto decided he'd go get tea first.

"**You're just going to see that Temari girl."** Kyuubi accused him.

"_No I'm not, I want some tea."_

"**And I want out of you just to stretch my legs. I'm inside of your mind boy, I know what goes on in here."** Naruto shrugged, beaten.

"_So what, I can't get what Shikamaru said out of my head. I have to settle matters." _Naruto then cut the fox out of his head.

When he arrived Temari was sitting at her usual table.

"Hey Naruto. Coming to get some tea after your show?"

"You were there too?"

"Everyone who could recognize your chakra was there. Do you realize how much you were pumping out?" Naruto shook his head. "It was quite a lot."

"Well, I didn't realize so." Naruto shrugged. Ordering his tea he looked at her. "So Shikamaru has been telling me some rather strange things lately." Naruto looked at the girl. "Mind helping me clear them up?"

"Sure, what was it?" Temari's heart beat faster, if what he was talking about was what she was thinking, things were going to get awkward really quick.

"Well he was saying you had certain feelings for me…And that you said I had a great ass." Temari had chosen that moment to take a drink of tea, this was a bad idea in that it was now all over Naruto.

"WHAT?!" Temari shouted.

"So it wasn't true?" Naruto was feeling slightly disappointed.

"It…It was, but I hadn't expected him to say anything to you about it." Temari was currently a color of red that is often reserved only for tomatoes and certain flowers. Naruto smirked, raising an eyebrow.

"I see… Well then, Allow me to take you to dinner tonight."

_Smooth Naruto, real smooth." _Temari thought. "Sure, come pick me up at seven?"

"Sounds good. Well I've got to go then." She placed went to place some money on the table, but Naruto stopped her, paying himself. "Thank you Naruto-kun." She said as she kissed him on the cheek, taking her leave.

"**Smooth kid, real smooth."** The Kyuubi growled from his cage.

"_Shut up fox."_ Naruto simply sat and drank his tea.

Several hours later, Naruto had showered and dressed, he'd made some reservations at a restaurant earlier that day, he then went to get Temari.

He was wearing black slacks, a white dress shirt, he'd not tucked it into his pants, and a black jacket and tie. He'd left his headband, and all his weapons, he did however have a telescopic night stick in his right pocket. It was made of steel and when extended was about sixty five centimeters long, that was in case he needed to fight with more than his bare hands.

He arrived at Temari's current lodging, it was a house built to accommodate guests to the country. Currently Temari was the only person lodged there. The blond knocked at the door, waiting patiently. Temari answered, and Naruto literally had to step back. The Sand ninja stepped out in a white kimono with gold trim and bamboo leaves, at her waist was tied a white obi, she wore tabi and straw sandals, in lieu of her usual ninja sandals.

"Temari, when you dress up, you really dress up. That kimono could not have been less than fifty thousand Ryou." Naruto looked at the girl in front of him.

"You like it? Gaara actually got it for me as a gift. It's imported from Snow country, and I think it was closer to seventy five thousand." Temari looked him over. "You're not looking so bad yourself."

"Kaisho sensei insisted I buy some formal clothes when I got back. Now I'm glad I did." Naruto grinned. "Shall we go?"

At the restaurant they ate, talked and did things that are generally done on a first date. As Naruto took her home he had the strange sense he was being followed.

"Well, this is your stop. I guess I'll be seeing you tomorrow." Naruto smiled, before she went in though, he grabbed her wrist and pulled her into a kiss. "Now we're set. Goodnight Temari-chan." Naruto grinned as he saw the blush on her face.

"G-goodnight Naruto-kun." She turned and went inside.

Naruto walked home, hands in his pocket, he turned around, drawing his night stick, he saw Sasuke.

"Smooth dobe."

"You're the second person to say that to me today." Naruto collapsed his night stick. "And it never gets any less annoying. Let's go." Naruto grinned.

Inside her house, Temari was leaning against the front door blushing.

_Did that really just happen?_ She thought, replaying the whole thing in her head. _I hope Gaara doesn't kill him._ She shook her head, and then went off to bed.

-Chapter Three: End-

_**Author's Note: I covered a lot of ground in this chapter. I felt like there needed to be some NaruTema, I plan on making Sasuke struggle to get his reputation back. Struggle a lot. Next time: Naruto goes to Sunagakure, gets questions from the family, adjusts to the desert and heat.**_


	4. Sunagakure no Sato

I don't own Naruto.

**Bold is supernatural speech.**

_Italics are thoughts, flashbacks, the like._

-Chapter Three: Sunagakure no sato-

Waking at dawn was no unusual thing for Naruto, he dressed in his black clothes, took his sword and other weapons, and packed his equipment and provisions and decided to go meet Temari at her house.

Temari woke up and decided a bath would be nice, so she decided that she'd indulge before getting ready for her journey.

Naruto had made his way to the house, and nobody answered the door, so he decided he'd put some of his finely honed stealth skills to use. Climbing to the second floor he snuck into a window, coming down on the floor silently. He snuck across the room carefully, and into the hall.

Temari had thought she heard a window screech open briefly, but dismissed it as a hawk or bird that screeched.

Naruto had carefully opened every door in the hall, finding empty rooms or on one or two occasions a closet, an extra bathroom, and a door that led to the attic.

Temari sensed something, just for a second, and her senses instantly sharpened. Quickly drying, she wrapped her towel around herself and grabbed the kunai sitting on the counter.

Naruto had expected a few things to happen, but having a kunai nearly skewer his face as he opened a door was fairly low on the list. His carefully conditioned skills of avoiding were all that kept his face intact. His face mask however was not as lucky.

"What are you doing here Naruto?!" She shouted, face red, but she was unsure of whether it was in anger or embarrassment.

"We were supposed to leave at seven, it's seven thirty." Naruto pulled out his pocket watch to prove the point.

"Are you serious?!" She dashed back inside the bathroom, drained the bath and made a dash for her room.

Naruto simply wandered around the house, he stopped by her door once.

"You know you should really keep your hair down, it looks much better." He said in a loud voice, knowing the doors were rather thick here.

After about half an hour, Temari emerged from her room with her pack and fan. Her hair was up in the usual ponytails.

"It keeps my hair out of my face to wear it like this." Temari glared at him, deciding that she was angry that he'd walked in on her.

"Ever think of doing just one?" They had started walking towards the exit.

"Actually, no." They continued their banter about Temari's hair for much longer.

Sasuke was not happy. If one were to ask why he weren't happy, it was a very simple answer. Every single one of his former classmates hated him. Sakura and Naruto were the exception, Naruto had actually seen to it that he was placed back into the ranks of Konoha ninja. Sakura was a totally different story, one that he was unable to explain in any easy way.

_-flashback: Sasuke's inauguration into ANBU-_

_Sasuke was standing in front of the entire ANBU rank, minus Naruto who had left to Sunagakure. Many were shinobi he'd never met, one he recognized as Neji, and another yet was Shikamaru, but the rest he was sure he'd never seen. They'd asked him to prepare a speech._

"_All of you know who I am, so I'm not going to introduce myself. I have my teacher to thank for being here, I'd always been told then to never abandon my teammates, but I did. I left in search of power to kill my brother. I did, and when I learned the truth, I also learned something else. My duty should have been to my village. I should have never left, but I made the mistake of leaving, and I'm incredibly lucky to have been found by Naruto and not someone else. I have him to thank for being up here, but he isn't around. I know you don't trust me, but I'll earn it, and I'll do things right this time." Sasuke finished, and there was no clap, he'd expected that, they all hated him here. He bowed and left. _

_Sitting atop the Hokage monument, he drank sake by himself. _

"_Naruto, you're lucky, you have that unbreakable will of yours." He drank another cup._

"_But you've got yours as well. The fact that you're even back says something about that. You were simply lost." Sakura came out from the surrounding trees. "We missed you, Kakashi-sensei and I." She sat down next to him, taking the bottle from him. _

"_He was at my inauguration. He was glaring at me." _

"_But he did miss you. He would always say how the team just wasn't right anymore. Even though Naruto's only been back for about two weeks." _

"_He was gone on considerably better terms I bet." He took out another bottle and began drinking again. "I ran him through the chest when I left, he was taken in by a Sannin, and then his brother." _

"_Don't dwell on what happened, we've got to have a celebration for your return. And if you drink this stuff you'll end up addicted like Tsunade-Shishou." She took the other bottle away._

"_It's not bad, I drink it to help me sleep." He handed her the glass he just poured._

"_I'm not gonna drink it." He shrugged, took the drink. Just when Sakura was expecting him to talk again he kissed her, forcing the liquid into her mouth. She pushed him away at first. "That was a dirty trick." _

"_Ninjutsu is all about deception." He smirked and kissed her again. Sakura wrapped her arms around his neck and deepened the kiss. They broke the kiss again. "May I have my sake back?" _

"_No." She took a drink from the bottle, repeating his previous trick, and then took a drink of her own."_

"_I thought you weren't going to drink?"_

"_I changed my mind." He smirked and they shared drinks. The night eventually lead them back to Sasuke's home, and into his bed. _

_-Flashback: End-_

Waking up in Sasuke's arm was, Sakura decided, one of the most pleasant places she'd put herself in. The throbbing hangover wasn't. Sasuke's stirring alerted her of his waking. She sat up, seeing his bare, scarred chest, and remembered the previous nights events.

"I hope you're feeling better than I am Sakura." Sasuke sat up, holding his head.

"If we go find Tsunade-Shishou, she has this medication that stops hangovers." They got up, dressed, and very slowly made their way to the Hokage tower.

Tsunade saw her red eyed apprentice and Sasuke walk in and she smiled.

"You finally got her to drink?" Tsunade asked Sasuke. "That's amazing." She reached into her desk and withdrew a bottle, it was her hangover killing tonic. When they took some, after only a few minutes it seemed as if they'd never had one.

"Anyway, I came to ask about my duties now."

"For now, we'll have you stick to patrols in the city, For the first few months it'll be that way. When Naruto returns we'll get you running some real missions." Sasuke nodded. Tsunade began flipping through her paperwork. "Actually, I've got a mission you can do." He handed him the paper. "Sakura's being sent to the Land of Snow to train medics, and she'll need a bodyguard. You're the perfect person for the job."

Sasuke accepted without hesitation.

"Good, you guys will leave in one week, and the mission will last six months."

Naruto and Temari traveled quickly, covering the forty klicks to the border of Fire Country in a half day, they set up camp early and Naruto went to do some training in a clearing just a little ways off. He was currently training with his knives. Temari watched as he moved from one position of the kata to another with a grace that was more than fluid, he moved like he was made of air. The way he moved the knives around, striking killing and maiming blows at the enemy she could almost see herself, both captivated and terrified her. Suddenly he stopped.

"You can quit spying on me Temari-chan." He turned and looked right at her, though she was hidden. "Come out here, I'll show you something for close quarters fighting."__She revealed herself and walked over to him. "Attack me." She did without hesitation, and he moved aside, and with a bump of his leg sent her sprawling in the grass. She sat up, totally astonished.

"What was that?"

"That was the basis of Mushin no Shin Ryu. Impose change through movement." She stood up, trying again, this time Naruto moved, and stayed behind her as she tried to track him. A simple nudge of his shoulder laid her flat.

"How are you doing it?"

"I keep you on my center, and off of yours." Temari didn't realize that this was exactly how Naruto's first days training with his sensei were. He helped her up this time, she tried to use the momentum to throw him off, but he shifted, and knocked her to the ground yet again.

"You're a bastard you know that?" This time when he helped her up there was no attacks, and no blond girl lying flat on her back.

"It'll help you, knowing some unarmed combat." He smiled.

"So am I to understand you're going to teach me how to throw people around like you do?"

"I didn't throw you, I barely touched you." The Uzumaki smirked under his mask.

"…You're a very mean person." Temari frowned at him. "I've never seen you use any of those moves like that kata, they were always really small and precise, not those big flowing moves in the kata."

"That's because of the practical application of each of those moves. Every time you saw me move, I could have done it narrower, or bigger, depending on what the attack or defense takes." He saw Temari's facial expression as she drank in the knowledge. "It's the same with my sword, I could slash someone to bits with it, or just cut their clothes with the same move."

"What if they're naked? Then you can't cut their clothes." Naruto was caught totally off guard by this.

"Well… Then I'd just cut them into pieces." Temari frowned, not expecting him to reply so quickly.

The banter continued for a while until they decided to make dinner and cash in for the night.

The next day, they set off for the border.

"So are you seriously going to wear a solid black outfit into the middle of the desert? It's almost one hundred and twenty degrees out there."

"Don't worry about it, I have a plan." He had to remember that he was wearing a mask sometimes.

"I hope that plan isn't frying yourself. I don't want to have to say I told you so."

When they reached the edge of River country, they made camp, for it took all day to cross the swath of land. Naruto had noted that the trees had thinned out considerably, and the temperature had risen by about five degrees as they traveled farther west.

Finally reaching the edge of the desert, Temari smiled warmly at the terrain of her homeland.

"So what's your plan Mr. Movement?" She looked at the ninja. He calmly reached into his rucksack and removed a small scroll she recognized as a sealing scroll. When he unsealed it there was a white cloak in his hands.

"This is my plan, a white cloak to wear over my black clothes." He set down his pack, put the cloak on, it had arm holes and was essentially a hooded trench coat.

"You're…a genius Naruto."

"Your people wear those white robes don't they?"

"Some do, mostly the older folk." Temari sighed, there was no winning against him.

"Well anyway, let's get going so we can cover some distance before it gets too hot." It was just past sunrise so they had to use the cold_**(1)**_ to their advantage. They did in fact travel far before the sun began pummeling the sand and shrubbery with it's powerful rays. It was seventy klicks to Sunagakure no Sato, and they traveled twenty five klicks in those first three hours of light_**(2)**_.

Their rate of travel slowed down considerably once the temperature rose past sixty degrees, and quickly soared into the hundreds. They did however make it to the village before the sun began painting the sky with the hues of the sunset. Temari couldn't help but smile at the sight of her home village. She wore an expression similar to the one Naruto had worn only a while before.

"Welcome Naruto, to the village hidden in the sand." She held her arms out at the village.

-Chapter Four: End-

_**Author's Note: I had a sudden burst of artistic thought at the end. Anyway, onto explanations and things of the sort. My teacher and friend, the one who's style I'm using for this story did a very similar thing to me, he would just barely bump or touch me when I was off balance and I'd be sent sprawling. Now for the Desert temperature, if any of you have ever been in a desert, you know that after dark, the air will get cold very quickly, and stays as such for a few hours after sunrise, but not for very long. Twenty five klicks is not an amazing feat for ninja, it was said that a ninja could travel up to eighty miles a day. That's about one hundred and twenty klicks (Kilometers). So, given that logic, a ninja in Naruto's world can do things that no normal ninja can ever do, therefore, twenty five klicks which is about sixteen miles should be no problem for a ninja in Naruto's world. **_


	5. Acclimations

I don't own Naruto . That is simply a wish of mine.

**Bold is demon/supernatural speech.**

_Italics are thoughts, flashbacks, the like._

-Chapter Five: Acclimations-

Currently, our blond friend was standing on one hand doing pushups. When he finished his set on one hand, he changed to the other. Temari saw the shirtless ninja standing in their living room on his hand and wondered.

"Naruto, how many of those have you done?" Currently he was sleeping in the living room, as Kankuro was still clearing out his equipment from the guest room.

"five hundred on my left hand, I'm at one hundred on my right." Suddenly it made sense to Temari, Naruto was a very well muscled individual, and if he did one thousand push ups each morning, it explained it all.

Naruto finished his morning exercises and dawned a tight fitting tank top and a pair of black fingerless gloves. He took a thin gray gi, strapping on his sword and knives, as he approached the door he put on the tabi boots he'd obtained, and announced that he was going out.

Naruto had no real destination in mind, he just wanted to get a feel for the village. He had already met some of the ninja of the village, and was offered lunch by a bold Kunoichi.

_Naruto walked the streets of the village trying to get a feel for the layout when a girl came up._

"_Hi, my name is Nami, I was wondering if you'd like to go to lunch with me?" The girl was blushing heavily, and he saw a group of girls giggling a ways away._

"_I'm sorry Nami, but I've actually got somewhere to be, maybe another time." He smiled and walked in the other direction._

The only reason he didn't accept is because he was sure the girl's friends had put her up to it. Another reason was that he wasn't particularly hungry, and had yet more exploring to do. As of yet he'd located the village's library, many restaurants, the weapons shop, which was a very interesting experience to Naruto.

_Naruto walked into the weapon's shop, taking in all the sights he could in one fell swoop. The clerk then walked up to him. _

"_Morning boy, you don't look to be from around here. What can I help ya with?" The clerk was an older man, but by the appearance of his broad shoulders, and strong wrists and forearms he had yet to slow down. _

"_What gave me away? Was it the black?" Naruto scratched his head._

"_Nope, it's the skin, you're not tan enough to have been here long." The man then spotted the sword on his back. "Can I see that there blade?"_

"_Sure." With expert precision he removed the blade, flipped it over and handed it to the man handle first. _

_With the trained eyes only a weapon smith could have, the man inspected the blade, the handle, the hilt, and even the pommel cap. _

"_A custom weapon? Most ninja can't afford something as nice as this, and it's made by the Kintori brothers, some of the Fire Country's best smiths."_

"_My teacher had it made for me as a gift."_

"_Who taught you?"_

"_Hashin Kaisho." The man's facial expression was that of shock._

"_You're a practitioner of the famous Mushin no Shin Ryu?"_

"_I am indeed." He smiled, "What's your connection to our style?"_

"_Kaisho's master saved my father from a group of mercenaries when I was young, they outnumbered him twenty five to one, and he beat all of them with a dango skewer."_

"_Sounds like something out of an old martial arts movie." Naruto accepted his sword back. _

"_I know, consider it a thanks to your master's master, but anything you want from here is half off." _

"_I don't know if I can accept that."_

"_I insist, if ever you need anything, just let me know." At that Naruto bowed._

"_Thank you sir."_

"_Call me Musashi, Kurotsune Musashi."_

"_Namikaze Uzumaki Naruto." Naruto then took his leave after having a quick look around. _

Naruto found the training grounds after a short time, the one he was at was a valley that was surrounded on three sides by sheer cliffs. Currently he was observing a group of what he assumed to be Gennin by the looks of things. His position was hidden in a small cave on the high cliff, he saw that they were practicing two on one sparring, one of the group, a small orange haired boy was the one who was the victim of a two person attack. His two opponents were a pair of boys, one was smaller, and the other smaller.

The first attacked, the larger boy seemed to be trained in only basic martial arts, the orange haired boy ducked under the shot and delivered a right hook to the boys midsection, and came up outside the arm of the boy and plowed his left hand into the boy's temple. Turning, he narrowly dodged his second opponent's first blow, he kicked the front leg of the boy and then struck him with a flurry of body blows which temporarily stunned the boy.

The first opponent had finally regained his wits and tried to attack his seemingly unaware opponent, and this time tried a roundhouse kick, but had his back leg kicked out from under him. A pivot and a heavy straight kick took his other target out.

As the first boy began his next attempt at an assault, the orange haired boy ducked low and grabbed the assaulting arm, with a pull and a shift of his hips he slammed the boy down, and immediately feigned a knife hand strike to the throat.

At this time, Naruto decided to reveal himself, he came down and examined the three boys.

"You're a good fighter, who taught you?"

"My brother grew up in the eastern jungles where a style called Muay Thai was common. He taught me." The orange hair grinned.

"My name's Namikaze Uzumaki Naruto, I'm Konoha's ambassador." Naruto bowed. The boys all returned the gesture.

"I'm Kuranesu Jon." The orange haired boy said.

"Naga Torimaru." One boy said, the taller of the two black haired boys.

"Ryouga Ashiru." The smaller one said. Naruto smiled.

"Well, where's your sensei?"

"He was KIA." Torimaru said, looking at the ground sadly.

"Well then, until you guys are assigned a new one, I'll be training you guys while I'm in town." Naruto smiled, he would look back on this one day as the best decision he'd ever made. "Alright, now the first thing I have to say is to you two, your movement is way off. Every single move you made Torimaru was so widely telegraphed that you may have well have sent a messenger. I'll be having you tighten them up." He looked at Ashiru, "Your moves are nice and tight, and it appeared that you had a great deal of power, but you have no speed, and that is your weakness." Finally he turned to Jon. "You are very fast, you remind me of a friend I have back in Konoha, but your style seems to require more power than you currently possess to reach it's true potential."

"But I took both of them down." Jon argued.

"Attack me, don't hold back, attack me like you're trying to hurt me." Jon did, it was a jab, which Naruto simply brushed aside, then a left straight punch, which he simply moved aside. The next was the strangest thing he'd ever seen, the boy stepped on Naruto's knee, and launched his other leg like a missile, his knee barely being dodged by Naruto whose style taught much avoiding.

Suddenly Jon felt himself on a collision course with the ground, he put his hands out quickly, barely catching himself, he tried to kick Naruto who caught the foot, and ended it with a powerful front kick to the boy's solar plexus.

"See, you lack power, a larger, more skilled ninja could destroy, not to mention if I drew my sword, knives or used a jutsu." Naruto said to the boy who was gasping for air.

"So how are you going to work with all of us to better our weaknesses?" Ashiru asked.

"Simple, I want you to come back here tomorrow, and I'll be here with a means of training all of you." Naruto then turned and left. Deciding he'd accomplished his mission.

When he returned to the house, he found Kankuro tinkering with a puppet, Temari was reading and Gaara was…painting.

"So what did you do today?" Temari asked.

"I met the weapon smith of the village, turned down some girl Nami for a date, and agreed to train a group of Gennin who lost their teacher."

"Sounds like you had some fun." Kankuro said, switching from a pair of pliers to a flathead screwdriver.

"I did. A promising bunch they were. I do need some things though." Naruto sat down. "Some cotton rope, a large punching bag, some gravity seals, and some candles."

"What exactly are you planning to teach them?" Gaara said, momentarily pausing his painting.

"Well, one of them happens to be very skilled at Muay Thai, but he's not very strong. Another is really strong, but has no speed. And the third telegraphs his moves badly." Suddenly it all became clear. Suddenly, Naruto thought of something. "Say Temari, could you take me to find some dinner? I haven't eaten much today, and I didn't find much for restaurants." It was a lie, but Naruto felt the need to take Temari along to dinner.

"**You have a thing for her kid."** The nine tails deemed it necessary to say things from time to time.

"Yeah, I'll come, let me go get changed." Temari blushed behind her back, had Naruto just asked her on a date?

Naruto felt it necessary to leave his sword, but did keep his knives carefully concealed on his person.

Temari had changed from her normal battle kimono to a black silken one with patterns of golden leaves and bamboo. The obi she wore was of a golden silk.

"Just…Perfect." Naruto said with a smile. And they set off in search of a place to eat. Words could not describe how well the dinner went, afterwards, they walked around, conversing of nothing in particular.

"Naruto, the last time I saw you, you were a loud mouthed punk, what's changed you so much?"

"My sensei was killed on a training trip, and I was taken in and trained by his brother after I passed out due to chakra exhaustion killing the people who killed my sensei." Naruto looked aside, the memories still haunting him. Temari reached out and took his hand.

"It must still hurt a lot. But I'm sure the pain will heal eventually. Your sensei would probably want people to remember him when he was alive, and be happy, not mourn him while he was dead. So let's hear what he was like, and be happy." Naruto admitted to himself that she had a point.

"He was always cheerful, a pretty sarcastic guy, he could always motivate me too. Like I'd be totally exhausted, ready to just die right there, and all of a sudden he'd say something and I'd be training again…" Naruto trailed off, continuing to talk about his former sensei. Hours disappeared while the two had found a park to sit and enjoy each other's company at.

They decided, after some time spent in the park that it was best to get home. Before they went inside, Temari decided she'd leave him with a gift.

"I had a great time tonight Naruto, thanks." And with a kiss she left him on the porch, holding his hand over his lips.

-Chapter Five: End-

_**Author's Note: I did it! I updated two stories in only a few hours. This chapter was difficult to do for some reason, I just couldn't quite get a feel for it, but I think I've got it down pretty well.**_


	6. Naruto sensei

I don't Own Naruto.

**Bold is Supernatural speech.**

_Italics are thoughts, flashbacks, the like._

-Chapter Six: Naruto Sensei-

Naruto had gathered all his equipment, and set off for the training field where he would meet his trainees. By the time he'd gotten there, his three students were already there.

"I'm glad to see that you're enthusiastic to train." Naruto grinned. He removed a number of scrolls, unsealing all manner of equipment. The massive heavy bag that stood on it's own, weighing in at around two hundred pounds. There was the rope and a pair of posts, small striking mitts, and candles.

"You've got a weird way of training sensei." Torimaru said.

"The heavy bag is for Jon, the candles for Ashiru, and the rope for you." He set them to work doing basic exercises like clapping push ups, sit ups, squats, and a run that he'd claimed would be short, but ended up being more than five miles. When they were all out of breath, Naruto began on his personal training with each of them. With Jon, he simply gave him a certain distance to push the bag with blows, and a limited number of blows to do it with. He had to push the bag fifty feet, and could only hit the bag two hundred times. This would force him to focus on power rather than the number of times he hit. For Torimaru, the rope served it's purpose the to bind his hands at a certain length, forcing him to keep his moves tight, the striking mitts were also for his training. The candles were for Ashiru's training. He would lash out with strikes, using only the wind from his blows to extinguish the flames. Then he would go to one of Naruto's clones and hit the training mitts a set number of times within a time limit. Naruto, in the course of his trainings had learned to manipulate the clones for all purposes. He could have them take blows that were not fatal and survive, he could make them explode, they could perform jutsu, and many other things.

Naruto watched his students train. Jon was having a great deal of trouble moving the two hundred pound bag, to meet his quota, his blows would have to move the bag three inches each time. At first, it seemed no problem, but after about sixty blows or so, he began to tire, and the blows were weaker and weaker, but when he reached around one hundred and twenty, he began attacking with renewed vigor, having reached less than half the distance, he began attacking the bag with powerful blows that he had no energy to deal from. The fifty foot mark came at one hundred and ninety five blows.

"Good, now try and manage the same distance in only one hundred and eighty strikes."

"Do you have any idea how hard this is?" Jon said, exhausted.

"Yes, I can manage fifty feet in just two blows, but I'll show you four." Naruto demonstrated the power he had hidden in his lean physique. The first blow knocked the heavy bag back ten feet, the second was leaning on closer to fifteen feet, the third was also fifteen, and finally, the third was the same distance. "I practiced like this a whole lot when I was with my teacher. And I used a heavier bag, one that was on a bungee cord, as well. So if I didn't do it fast enough, then I'd start from the beginning again." Naruto said, Jon's face showed pure shock, realizing the amount of power he must have.

"How much heavier?"

"Three times the weight. I had gravity seals on during the normal training, and I was allowed to take them off when I did this." Naruto grinned.

Jon started his training with renewed vigor yet again. Naruto now knew what it felt like to be Jiraiya. Next was Torimaru, who was fighting an imaginary enemy. Naruto held up his mitt encased hands, allowing Torimaru to feel the feeling of actually hitting an object rather than air. It was then that he saw that while his moves were tighter, he still telegraphed his moves. Thinking for a moment, he produced a pair of sticks. He handed one to the boy.

"Hit the stick, only use your front arm, and don't move anything above your shoulder." The stick he held firmly felt as Torimaru cocked the stick back. "Stop, stop, Do it like this." Naruto bent at the elbow, and with a snap, knocked the stick from the boy's hand. The boy took his stick and tried again, the movement felt odd, but after a while, Naruto observed the boy getting a handle of the stick. "The stick is simply an extension of your range, instead of a strike." Naruto demonstrated a left hook. "A punch or kick, it's all about keeping the strikes close to your center. Where you're most balanced." Torimaru soaked up the information in much the same fashion as sponges soak up water. He had a clone take hold of the stick, having Torimaru strike it, sometimes while moving, and at different ranges.

Ashiru was having the most trouble, he was a strong boy, no doubt, but he was slow compared to the others, and could not extinguish the flames.

"Come on, hit these, let's make you faster." Naruto held up the mitts, letting Ashiru hit them. "You know your problem? You're trying to hit as hard as before, but faster than before, attack lighter, and faster, working the strength up as you progress." Ashiru's hits became lighter, but also became faster, noticeably so. "Just like that." Ashiru had not had any real problems other than that, he kept working the mitts, the blows didn't get noticeably stronger, but he kept at that fast pace. At around noon, they all broke for lunch, and then came back to training for a while longer.

When an ANBU came to the grounds, he brought with him a letter from Konoha.

_Dear Naruto,_

_How is life with you in Suna? Sasuke and Sakura left for the Land of Snow on the morning of the day you'll be getting this. Sasuke has changed a great deal. Did you know he finally got Sakura to drink sake? Well anyway, how are you doing Naruto? I hear that you and Temari went on a date, how was that? Well, there's not much news, you've only been gone for a week, write back, I want to hear about your life in Suna._

_Signed,_

_(Scribble)_

_Tsunade_

Naruto smiled, he was glad to know that even though he was out of the village that someone was thinking about him. He tucked the letter away, wanting to save his reply for later. His surrogate team continued their training for a while longer yet, until about five in the evening, when they finally broke for the day.

"I want you to be here so we can train every morning, it'll be from eight to lunch time."

"Yes sensei." They all said. Naruto dismissed the boys and went to his current home. When he arrived, he found that his small pile of stuff next to the couch was gone.

"Where is my stuff?" Naruto asked.

"It's in your room, Kankuro moved his stuff out of the guest room." Temari said. Naruto nodded and went into the room to find his stuff sitting neatly against the wall. He went off to take a shower, and when he had finished, arriving in the living room clad in shorts and a t shirt, dinner was waiting for him. He'd started eating, when Gaara walked in, setting down the oversized hat worn by all kage. They ate dinner together, talking about their days.

_-Outside the land of snow-_

Sasuke and Sakura had been walking all day, the sun was beginning to set. They were just on the borders of the land of Snow, and the temperature was already around -5 degrees, the snow wasn't falling, it was a clear day, but the cold weather was taking its effect on them. Sasuke was wearing the cold weather version of an ANBU outfit. Instead of the sleeveless, skin tight shirt, he was wearing a long sleeved version. The fabric was a perfect insulator, it was designed for the cold weather. Over his vest, he had a thick cloak. He wore boots instead of sandals. Sakura had also changed her attire, she was wearing a pair of black pants, and a red sweater, she wore a cloak as well.

"How much farther do you think we have?"

"Only a few miles, maybe four of five." Sasuke had always been a good judge of distance. They continued walking in silence until Sakura broke it.

"Hey Sasuke, what made you want to come back home?"

"I…I felt…out of place as a missing-nin. I wanted to be back home, where I could stop running." Sasuke's breath misted out in front of him. Sakura's eyes fell to the ground _So it wasn't because he wanted to see me._ She thought, but then turned her efforts into making it to the village without freezing instead of being sad.

As time passed, Sasuke began feeling tension build between them. He sighed. "You're sad. What's wrong."

"I'm not sad, I'm fine." She smiled. He looked at her, a serious look on his face.

"I may have been gone for a long time, but I still know you Sakura. What's wrong?"

"Alright, alright. There's no tricking you is there? I'm sad that you didn't come back to see me Sasuke. I really wanted to be the reason you returned. But I guessed that was too much to ask."

"You were part of it. And Naruto. I had family again with you guys. I didn't show it, but I really loved being there with you guys." He said.

"So…I was like family to you?" _I almost wish it was what I'd thought now._

"No, Naruto was like family, you were always kind of annoying, but I could tell that you weren't another fan girl, when it came to it, you fought, tooth and nail for us." He smirked over his shoulder. "And now you've grown up, into the most beautiful Kunoichi I've ever met." Sakura blushed when he said that.

"Y-you really think that I'm beautiful?" She could feel her face warming up.

"Yes Sakura, I do. You would have to be blind and gay not to see how beautiful you are." He suddenly got an image of his brother in his mind, he chuckled. "Where's that tough girl that I've been with most of this trip?"

"Shut up." She scowled at him. She then smiled. "So what do you think it's going to be like, the land of snow?"

"It's in a deep valley, we'll be walking about a quarter mile down hill to get there. Lot's of trees there."

"You've been there?"

"Several times, since it has no ninja village there, they post a lot of missions that are up for grabs by vagrants. Many of them are well paying."

"Why are we going to train medics then?"

"Because they're going to build a ninja village. The current king is very old, when the prince takes the crown, he wants to have his own ninja village."

"Oh, how do you think that's going to do?"

"The man that is going to be the lord of the village is very strong, and very loyal. I fought him once, he won by a long shot, the man was just too strong."

"Is the last, mighty Uchiha admitting defeat?"

"I'm not the last Uchiha, Madara is still around. He's the real leader of the Akatsuki." Sasuke said, his voice the epitome of serious. "And yes, I'm admitting defeat." Sasuke smirked, "I've never been able to do that before. Their banter continued, most of it was just to keep their minds off the biting cold, that continually gnawed on their extremities.

When they finally reached the edge of the valley, they looked down to see the village sprawled about inside the valley, Sasuke was right, the village had a natural defense, one that discouraged large numbers, the trees that were packed close together made it difficult for an army to move through them.

-Sunagakure: One month later-

Naruto carefully observed the three students, Jon's style of fighting transformed from the traditional Muay Thai fighting style, to a style called Toriyameru no Kobushi Do, the way of the intercepting fist. He led with his right hand, instead of his left, his jabs were lightning fast, and still carried some power, his straight punches from his rear hand were powerful as well. His kicks and knees were a force to be reckoned with.

They'd started training for a full day after all three decided that they'd prefer a full day's training.

Torimaru, the one who'd previously had trouble with his overall style had preferred basic taijutsu and a kodachi.

Ashiru had also chosen the way of the intercepting fist, it fit him, a powerful build, quick, accurate blows, I all seemed to fit for him.

Currently, Naruto was jingling the two bells in his pocket. "Alright, for this test, I want you to get these bells." Naruto smiled.

-Chapter Six: End-

_**Author's Note: The Way of the intercepting fist is Bruce Lee's Jeet Kune Do. The translation I have here is the literal Japanese translation, which technically means The Way of the Cancelling fist, but it's the same thing essentially. **_

_**Anyhow, This took a long time to update, I'm sorry for that, but Things have been strange round here. **_

_**If you have any questions, anything, just contact me. **_


	7. Dog Wants War? I Give Him War!

I don't own Naruto.

_Italics are thoughts, flashbacks, the like._

**Bold is supernatural speech.**

-Chapter Seven: Dog Wants War? I Give Him War!-

Naruto smirked, he was on the opposite side of his gennin test. He tucked the bells into his belt.

"But there's only two bells there."

"Correct. Begin!" All three were gone in a matter of seconds. He smirked, they were faster than he was at that age.

Naruto cracked his neck, stretched his wrists and arms, readying himself.

"So Jon, you're the first to come? I'd figured it would've been Ashiru, he's the one that seems most likely to attack first."

"I wanna see how strong you really are." Jon rushed forward, only to run into a lightning fast jab.

"Strength doesn't matter, speed and accuracy do." He said. "Because strength comes with those." He dodged a number of blows, before stepping in to elbow the younger boy.

Jon was sent staggering by the rock hard elbow. The side kick that followed served to knock him back even farther. Just how strong was Naruto?

"You'll never beat me alone, none of you." Jon recovered his stance and wits, and realized that the blonde man was indeed too fast to beat by himself. He needed his friends. He took off running, the bruises that were forming on his ribs were impeding a full range of motion.

He found Ashiru and Torimaru talking, trying to come up with a plan.

"Looks like you already had a row with him." Torimaru said. "We concluded that we're not fighting, we're ambushing to steal the bells." He added. "We're fighting a stronger force. Remember the academy? If you're fighting a bigger force that's guarding your objective, then you need to ambush and deceive." The young teen said.

"That's brilliant, but how would we ambush him?" Ashiru says.

"We'll need bait, and booby traps. I was thinking a snare or a pitfall."

" Snares would be the best bet, we get him stuck, and then steal the bells."

"Who's up for being bait?" Torimaru asked. No one raised their hands. "Fine, I guess it's me." He hopped down, and they set about with their plans.

Naruto was sitting in meditation in the middle of their training ground. He saw Torimaru emerge from a small valley that branched out, that led to a small desert oasis if memory served.

Naruto stood, looking at his student. "You're the smartest in the group, what caused you to come out alone?"

"I wanted to test myself." He pulled out a pair of nunchaku. He assumed a stance with them, his left hand held up, holding one of the metal rods, the other below his left elbow, the rods and chain were behind him.

Naruto didn't need his sticks, he moved in, dodging the metal nunchaku, delivering short blows, knocking the teen back with each one.

Occasionally, Naruto would get hit, but the blows couldn't compare to anything he'd been delivered before. He kept pushing, and Torimaru kept backing up, pulling Naruto into the small valley.

Torimaru did a back flip to dodge a kick, Naruto stepped forward, feeling the sand beneath him disappear, he saw the stakes below him, and then felt himself jerked upward. Ashiru then came and stole the bells, holding both of them.

"I see, so Torimaru was the bait, while you retrieved the bells after I fell into your trap." He began pulling himself up the thin rope, cutting it and swinging to safety. He landed near them. "You all pass." He said, looking at his students. "Also, I have some news for you. Gaara has found a teacher for you, he'll be meeting you here tomorrow at eight. This is our last training session." They all looked downcast. "I know you'll do well. This guy is tough, his name's Hyugo Ren, a Ninjutsu specialist." Naruto smirked. He then took his bells, and his leave.

Naruto went for lunch, ate some ramen and had some tea. When he was walking home, he saw something that seemed to be out of place. A man, dressed in clothes that weren't of the norm around here. He looked like he was a samurai, something that didn't usually occur here.

Approaching the man carefully, as he went to grab the man's shoulder, he was forced to duck a katana, he kicked the man's knee out from behind, and stepped back.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?"

"Are you Uzumaki Naruto?"

"If I am?" The man rushed at him, his sword acted like a scalpel, precise to a hair, every stroke that Naruto dodged was aimed for a vital spot. He leaned back, dodging the stroke that would've cut his throat, and kicked up, the ball of his foot landing in the man's groin, he grabbed his head, elbowed him, and then took him in an arm lock, he locked the man's other arm with one of his legs, his knee on the man's spine. "WHO SENT YOU?!" He pulled on the man's arm, causing him to drive his face even farther into the hot sand.

"You'll never get me to talk like this, even if you do, they'll send more." Naruto reached into his gi with his free hand, he withdrew a scroll, which held a set of bonds, he bound the man's hands, picking him up, as well as his sword. Cursing his luck, his gi had been cut during the short fight.

Gaara was not a fan of surprises, so when Naruto tossed a samurai on his floor, he was not pleased. "What is this Uzumaki?"

"This man attacked me in town, he won't answer to me, I'd figure you could persuade him to do otherwise." Gaara smirked, closing his eyes.

"Do you know who I am, Mercenary?" The man nodded. "You know that I could crush your entire body?" He nodded again. "But I won't, I'll start with your feet." He surrounded the man's feet in sand, crushing them. "Tell us what we want to know."

"N-Never." The man choked out. Gaara moved the sand up, engulfing the calves of the man. He screamed in agony this time. Gaara gave him a chance again to talk, but no dice. He went from the man's knees, to his groin. "Fine! Fine! I'll speak! I'm a member of a group in the Land of Snow, we received intelligence that Konoha ninja were coming, and that Uzumaki was friends with them, we were sent to dispatch him at the same time as they were sent to dispatch the other two."

"Do you understand that you just attacked an incredibly dangerous person?" Gaara asked. "And the Uchiha is no pushover either. The Haruno girl, if memory serves was also trained by a member of the Sannin. Your friends will be dead in a matter of time." Gaara looked at Naruto, who took his sword, and thrust it through the man's head. "We have to alert Tsunade. Naruto, go to the Snow village, I'll send one of my own with you."

Naruto gathered his stuff, which wasn't much because he sealed it all in a scroll after packing it, so that he wouldn't be carrying a full pack. He walked out of his room to find Temari dressed, ready to travel.

"You're coming with me?"

"Yeah, I'm the best from this village. Gaara said your ANBU would be behind us, only by a day or so."

"Alright then, let's go." Naruto headed to the door, to be stopped by Kankuro.

"Be careful, both of you." With that, he moved.

"We will." Naruto nodded, and was out the door.

Sasuke was tired, there was no doubt of that. He ducked the sword that his senses told him was coming, and lashed out with a back fist strike, content that he struck something, he collapsed his arm, stepping in and throwing his target back.

"What do you want?" Sasuke drew his chokuto, the Kusanagi. The man just smirked and attacked.

Sakura, with her focus on Sasuke, almost didn't notice the person trying sneak up on her, she turned around and punched, her chakra powered strikes creating a vacuum behind her arm. She saw the man, but he was fast, wearing a mask that resembled what she'd always believed a demon to look like, he also wore a blue sleeveless gi, and a long, black and white sleeved shirt, the stripes ran horizontally, on his hands were black gloves.

"You Konoha ninja will drive our business out of this city, we can't have that." The masked man said. "We of the Oniwabanshu will extinguish you." He assumed his fighting stance, a fairly normal kempo stance.

Sakura also put up her hands, knowing that this was a fight for her life. She wondered what the stripes on his arms were for. She stepped back to what she assumed a safe distance, only to receive a punch in the face.

_What the hell was that?_ She thought, standing up, lunging at the man, her own fist finding it's mark on his chin.

Sasuke dodged the first sword, the second sword, and then blocked the first one again, the man was using a pair of Kodachi. He pushed the blade away, and punched him in the stomach, his sword aimed at the staggering opponent. He was rewarded with his blade biting into the man's leg.

"I see that your skill with that blade isn't exaggerated Uchiha, but you have yet to see the Shinomori style."

"I have more tricks up my sleeve, I'm just getting warmed up." He unfastened his cloak, showing that he was wearing his ANBU uniform. He set the sword on his shoulder. "Come on, if you want a fight, this is the best place to come." His sharingan showed bright, three tomoe marked each eye. With a blink of the eyes, he was gone, his sword coming down on the ninja in front of him. The elder man brought his sword up to block. "You choose defense, which is the wrong choice." He pushed chakra into the blade, slicing the kodachi clean through, and tracing a bloody line down the man's chest.

Sakura dodged yet another punch, she'd finally understood the stripes, they made her enemy's arms look shorter. It was a simple trick, but a devious one, she'd decided that dodging sideways and down were her only options. She countered the punch, pushing it aside, and punching the man, following with a knee to the sternum, she was rewarded with a crack.

But stopping there, that wasn't her plan, she continued assaulting the masked man, each punch and kick earned her more ground, until finally, she charged a punch with chakra, and released all that power upon the man's face, destroying both the mask, and the bones below. She gasped at what she saw.

Sasuke had cut the man's kodachi, but he still had one sword.

"Tell me Uchiha, why return?"

"Because, it's my home." He remembered his friends. "And if you dare impede on my mission, I'll Kill you!" He charged more chakra into his sword, and rushed the man once again. The ninja blocked the sword, only to be rewarded with an electrical current, and a boot to the face. Sasuke created his Chidori, and ran the man through.

He felt the man go limp, and pushed him off his arm, he found Sakura behind him, mending her broken nose.

"So, what do you think this was all about?"

"It seems that they're mercenaries that are angry about the Snow wanting to build their own ninja village, and us helping."

"Well, we need to report this, there's likely to be more." He said. "Let's get to the village, and send a letter back home." Sasuke cleaned the blood off of his sword and hand, sheathing his sword and they continued towards the village.

-Chapter Seven: End-

_**Author's Note: This chapter wasn't my best work, it was more of a space occupier, something that I could get up, to fill the gaps between the cool stuff. I'll work much harder on the next chapter, make up for what I think was kind of a crappy chapter.**_


	8. Team Sevenplus

I don't Own Naruto.

_Italics are thoughts, flashbacks, the like._

**Bold is supernatural speech. **

-Chapter Eight: Team Seven…Plus-

Sasuke had sent his letter, not knowing that something similar had happened to Naruto, who was supposed to arrive within the next few days.

---- ---- ---- ----

Naruto and Temari had crossed Fire country in a day, much faster than most people could go, but they had a goal in mind, and they didn't worry about stopping. By the end of the third day, they were within view of the Land of snow. They went down into the valley, coming across two bodies.

"This is Sasuke's work here…Which means." Naruto turned and looked at the other body, it's face smashed in. "These were the guys that were sent after them, come on, we need to catch up with them." Naruto looked at Temari, who nodded and followed. She looked worried. _Temari's strong Naruto, you're just imagining it. But still, to see her looking like that, it's uncomfortable. _Naruto kept his thoughts to himself, but kept them near, just in case.

It took an hour, but eventually that thought gnawed at him, wearing him down. "Temari, something's wrong."

"There's Nothing wrong Naruto." Lie.

"Don't give me that, I know that something's wrong. Tell me, we're a team, we help each other." She glared at him.

"Those bodies were enemies. Are we walking into another war here Naruto?" Truth be told, he wasn't sure. But you could never let them know.

"Probably, Tsunade's sending in more soldiers, so time will tell, but it's seeming more and more like this is a war." Naruto paused. "It also seems like there's something we don't know. Let's see what Sasuke and Sakura, as well as the Daimyo know." Naruto said, examining the snow covered path.

"Okay. Also, Naruto." Naruto couldn't place his finger on it, but this didn't sound like the same Temari that he'd known before.

"What is it Temari?"

"I…I think that I've developed feelings for a person." Naruto raised his eyebrow.

"Does this certain person happen to have blond hair and blue eyes?"

"As well as a godly body." She blushed, and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Well Temari, I think that this certain person has feelings for you as well." He softly pressed his lips against her own, his arms around her waist. He broke the kiss after a number of long seconds. "Let's finish our discussion of this topic later, in the hotel." Naruto smiled, and they finished their trek through the snow.

---- ---- ---- ----

Sasuke saw the ninja walk in, Naruto first peeked his head in.

"No one's naked in here are they?" He then walked in. "Okay Temari, it's safe." He looked at the Uchiha. "Only back a month and they can't wait to get rid of you." He grinned.

"Yeah, but you weren't much better." Sasuke had been cleaning his sword. "I believe you were in Konoha for only a week or two before they shipped you off?"

"Yeah but they can't handle me there." He smirked. "It's the same thing with Temari, they can't figure out what to do with her in Suna, but Tsunade doesn't want to keep her either." He made no attempt to dodge the slap in the head that came, he deserved it. "But I guess it's safe to say that I'm the same way, Gaara kicked my ass out of Suna after only a month."

"Naruto, you don't know when to quit do you?" Temari shook her head.

"Not a clue." Naruto admitted blithely. He dropped his pack, and rolled his shoulders. He removed the thick gi he was wearing, leaving him clad in trousers. Their room was actually two rooms. "So how are we going to divide the rooms?"

"Shouldn't that be obvious?" Sasuke raised his eyebrow.

"Nope, I'd think that you and Sakura would like some privacy, I know you came back for her." He smiled at Temari. "Plus Temari and I have a conversation to finish."

"Fine, I guess you have control over the room distribution." Sasuke shrugged.

"Say, where is the cherry?"

"Shower." Sasuke refitted his blade into the handle, pushing the pin back in with a mallet and awl. He inspected his work, and sheathed his sword when he was satisfied he'd done a good job.

"Ah, okay then, I'll let you two to your devices, I take it ours is the room is this half?" Naruto pointed to the side they were on, a divider split the sleeping area in half. Sasuke nodded. "Then I'm going to sleep." Naruto removed his boots, and his equipment, setting his sword against the night stand, and his knives on top of it. The blond ninja then shut the divider. "Care to join me?" He noticed the seals on the shutter that made the rooms individually sound proof. Temari happily obliged, removing all of her extra attire, leaving her clad in a pair of tight shorts, and a t-shirt. Naruto himself wore only his boxers.

Sasuke lay on the floor, trying to peak under the divider, no such luck, perhaps a small space near the wall. Sakura walked out of the shower in a yukata. "What are you doing Sasuke?"

"I want to know what they're doing over there, but I can't hear anything." Sakura shrugged, taking hold of the handle on the shutter and jerking it open, only to find a pair of blonds sleeping in each other's arms.

"There, now close it up, and come on, we need to be up early." Sakura had to admit she was slightly jealous of Temari, who had someone who would willingly and openly share his love with her, even if the relationship was just becoming something enough to be called that. Sasuke seemed almost nervous to show affection. _I'll teach him it's okay to show love._ She lay down in the bed, soon feeling the weight of Sasuke laying next to her.

---- ---- ----

Morning came, and Naruto woke up first, gently waking Temari with a soft kiss on the cheek, dressing in a ninja shozoku similar to his old one, only white, after which, he went to wake Sakura and Sasuke. He smiled _Time for revenge for last night._ He grasped the sides of the bed, and with a powerful jerk, flipped the entire mattress over, eliciting a scream from both occupants.

"NARUTO!" Sakura's voice cried out. "I'm gonna kill you!" She got up, and punched Naruto._ His body is like stone! _She felt the throbbing in her hand. Sasuke's raven haired head poked out from under the bed.

"Naruto, you're going to regret that." Sasuke stood up, taking his shirt off of the back of a chair, he dressed again, and looked back at him. "We're supposed to be going to go train medics today, why don't you survey the regular forces here, see what they're useful for." Sasuke said, drawing his mask over his face, making his voice sound muffled. "Make sure that they're prepared for a ninja attack, the guys that I met today seemed pretty talented, but still around a higher Chuunin level, someone who had a basic grasp of knowledge, but not quite enough experience." He then turned on Temari. "You keep him from killing anyone." Sasuke left with Sakura, Naruto stood there, curious of the meaning of what the Uchiha had said.

"He doesn't seem to think that you're capable of controlling yourself." Temari spoke.

"No, he knows I can, it's just that he wants to mess with me. It's a hobby of his, playing mind games." Naruto strapped his sword and knives on. He adjusted his mask so that it covered most of his face, but left his eyes and forehead uncovered, his hair hung down onto his forehead, while his hitai-ate dangled around his neck.

"Your hair looks better down." Temari remembered what Naruto had said before. "Keep it that way."

"You have to do it if you want me to." Naruto said. "Let's go talk to the Daimyo." Temari huffed in discontent as flicked one of her ponytails.

---- ---- ---- ----

The Daimyo was a man of powerful stature, a strong torso, arms, and neck, he was definitely of samurai upbringing, if the swords next to him didn't say it, his aura did.

"Sir, we'd like to assess your forces, what do you have ready at any given moment?" Naruto asked.

"There are one hundred infantrymen guarding the city at any one time, fifty more can be ready at the sound of a war trumpet, forty five cavalry are available, and forty five ninja are also available when the trumpet sounds. However, we have one hundred or so who have pledged loyalty to us, many of whom do missions to bring in funds for our military purposes." The Daimyo explained.

"Your force is well sized for such a small country." Naruto said. "What of this Oniwabanshu? I've heard that they reside in your country?" The man suddenly looked very nervous, and his tone became hushed.

"You see, they moved their headquarters here around a year ago, when the Sound village fell, their force is composed of ninja, around three hundred or so. Our plan, once your friend is finished training our medics was to attack their headquarters." Naruto nodded, understanding.

"Well, If I may sir, I'd like to take your five best ninja with me to attack the village covertly."

"Only seven against three hundred?" The man huffed. "Not even the Sannin could hope for those odds." Naruto's gaze grew hard at that.

"They would level an entire village with their power!" He regained his composure. "I was trained by Jiraiya of the Sannin, and his elder brother, Hashin Kaisho." Naruto said. "It's not a matter of destroying their entire forces, just compromising their strongholds, setting fires in their barracks, poisoning their water supply, and assassinating the head of the forces." Naruto said. "Temari and I could do it alone if we had to. But I was hoping that we could use some of your men, to even the odds a little more."

"You were trained by both of the Hashin brothers? That you found the self imposed hermit, Kaisho is no small feat in and of itself. Very well, I'll have my five best brought here when they return from their missions. You may take them for your mission." Naruto bowed, and they took their leave.

Their next destination was lunch, they found a soba stand, and ate there.

"Temari, how much do you know about blade work?"

"Little, I know the basics, but not much more than that. Why?" the sandy haired girl looked at him.

"Because, I will show you what I know." Naruto stated.

"How? We've only got a short amount of time to train. I can't learn much so quickly."

"I know a way to, it's something I learned with Jiraiya, it's called a hyperbolic time jutsu. It takes every hour, and turns it into a month, every day into two years, that's what it will seem like anyway, your mind will retain the knowledge, but your body won't feel the aging effect."

"That must use a lot of chakra."

"It does, I've never used it for more than a day. It's a genjutsu, very similar to Tsukuyomi." Naruto explained the jutsu. Temari seemed totally awed by the idea of your body sleeping while your mind learned.

---- ---- ---- ----

Sasuke and Sakura sat in front of twenty five raw recruits, ninja who were fresh from the academy. Sakura held her folder in her hands, to her left was a board.

"Tell me, each of you applied for medic training, but how many of you are really ready?" She asked, all of them raised their hands. She began tacking up pictures, each held a more gruesomely mangled corpse. "How about now?" Several dropped their hands. "Each of you leave." She pointed out the five that dropped their hands. "The rest, you have stomachs, but you will need to learn how to deal with the stresses of being a triage medic." She paused. "On the field, we decide who lives and dies."

"Kept calling it murder when I did it." Sasuke muttered.

"We help those we can, and those who aren't dead yet, we don't take sides, we don't ask questions, we just help them. My bodyguard here watched as his entire family was murdered before his eyes, by his older brother no less. This is the type of place you'll be going to, the shit holes of the world." She smiled. "You'll be bringing people back from hell." She watched as twenty young faces grew pale.

-Chapter Eight: End-

_**Author's Notes: See if you can find the quote from Pitch Black in here. Anyway, this chapter was a little bit of a stretch, I wasn't sure where to go with Naruto and Temari from here, but now I decided. Next Chapter: Hyperbolic training, and more morbid tales of triage!**_


	9. Therapy

I don't Own Naruto, I borrow him from time to time, but I always give him back.

-Chapter Nine: Therapy-

Naruto had devised a plan, a rather sneaky plan that involved several devious parts to the whole accumulation of one grand plan. Over all, his plan consisted of arson, poisoning the water supply, large explosions, and an army of knife wielding clones, that was where he played his role. He'd sat at his desk for the entire week, fretting over the smallest detail, he had a map of the area, a map of the base, a water pipe blueprint, and even a map that showed the terrain.

Temari saw that he'd eaten nothing but ramen for the whole week, and decided that he should have real food. She brought some sake and a dish of teriyaki and set them down.

"Can't drink, must plan." Dark circles ringed his eyes.

"Naruto, at least eat the chicken. It's not healthy to sit in one place for so long and not eat some good food. I'll make some tea if you won't drink the sake." Naruto picked up the chopsticks in his left hand and began devouring the chicken. He paused, looking at the written notes, the maps, reports, all of it.

"I need a break. Temari, do you think you could give me a massage? I'm feeling kind of tense." Naruto stood up. "My lower half too please, my legs have never been so stiff." She glared at him. "That's not what I meant! But if you really want to…" Naruto ducked the hand, backing up slowly, he put his hands up. "I was joking Temari, but please? A massage would feel great." The blond girl looked at him, her face still affixed in a way that expressed the verb 'Glare' perfectly, to a letter.

"Fine, we'll have a drink later. Lay down." He went to. "It's uncomfortable to get a massage with your shirt on. If I'm giving you a full body massage, then you're going to need to lose the pants too." She looked at his attire, it wasn't hard to remove.

"You just want to see me naked." Naruto smirked before obliging. Temari, who now slept regularly with him, had never stopped loving his body. He currently lay face down on the bed. She straddled his lower back, and began kneading his shoulders and upper back.

"Have you ever had a massage Naruto? Your muscles are like stone." It had never occurred to her that not a single person in his village, save for maybe Hyuuga Hinata would even considering touching him, and she was far too nervous. "Don't answer that one, I'm afraid I won't like the answer."

"Why then, do you do your work as a ninja? You can't enjoy assassinating people. We should learn from what hurts us as much as what we love." Naruto said, smiling over his shoulder. "And no, but if this is what I'm looking forward to, then I might have to stay up for a week straight more often." He paused, moaning in pleasure. "We should massage information out of enemy ninja instead of torture. It would work just as well, much less messy." It was about this time that Sasuke and Sakura walked in. Both wore a strange expression. "Yeah, it's totally what it looks like." The blond man smirked.

Sasuke sat in his room, rolling his shoulders, Sakura had been instructing the students on basic medical first aid. That was when Sakura looked at him. "You know, I happened to see that both of them were enjoying it, I could help you with those stiff shoulders." She walked over to him straddling his lap, she placed her hands on his shoulders. "But it's gonna cost you." Sasuke raised an eyebrow, his equivalent to 'How much?' "You…Have to…" She brought her lips close to his ear "Give me a full body massage." She whispered. His eyes widened.

"You mean? All of you?" Sakura nodded.

"Every single inch of me." Her words held a seductive tone. Sasuke's face became a soft smile.

"I think… I can manage that one." And he sat back to enjoy the hands kneading his sore muscles. Thank the gods for weekends.

Morning found both Sasuke and Naruto, clad in pants alone, cooking breakfast for the four of them.

"So?" Naruto asked.

"So what?" Sasuke knew what Naruto wanted.

"How was it?" he saw the eyebrow raise. "You know what I'm asking about, Sakura is a very persuasive girl, and I happen to know that she has a bit of a perverted streak. Let me guess….Full body massage?" Sasuke's eyes widened in disbelief. "Good job Sasuke, you've done the deed. Just remember that you are technically her bodyguard."

"So how was it Naruto?" Sasuke let his usual smirk appear.

"It was good, I didn't think it would be all that the old bastard said it would be, but it was." Naruto took a drink of his tea. "Almost wish I had a cigarette, just to seal the deal." The blonde chuckled.

"Naruto, your sense of humor is weird." Sasuke chuckled as well. "That sounds like something Asuma would do."

"It's just something Jiraiya would do, whenever he came home late at night, he'd have this pipe that he smoked. I asked why, and he told me that it made the night perfect." Sasuke saw the sadness in Naruto's eyes. "But I don't like the smell of tobacco, so I don't think I could do it." He smiled. "Let's go wake the girls as soon as we're done setting the table." They set out the silverware, cups, all of the food, and then woke the female half of their team.

Sakura was surprised to see such a wonderful breakfast in front of her, Temari's current state of being had evolved past sheer surprise, and was something much more.

"Naruto, did you cook all of this?" She asked. He said that he had some help from Sasuke. "Okay then." She kissed him. "Thank you." She walked over to Sasuke and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Thank you as well Sasuke-kun." Sakura's expression was a mixture of confusion and anger at the blonde girl for kissing her boyfriend.

"That was…unusual."

"Not in Suna. There is a tradition, or practice." Naruto began. "After certain…activities of the night, a man makes breakfast for his lover, and if she's content with the breakfast, and previously mentioned activities, then she'll give the man a kiss."

Sakura blushed profusely, and once again, the confusion was evident on her face. "So you're saying that you…and her…did these activities?" Naruto nodded. "Then why did she kiss Sasuke?"

"He helped cook the breakfast. Sakura, you should give Sasuke a kiss, or else I might have to steal him from you." Temari smiled slyly. Sakura walked over to the raven haired man, and placed her lips firmly against his own. "So you guys had sex too?" Temari smirked at the blush that graced their faces.

"N-no I mean maybe." Sakura stammered out.

"Yes Temari-chan, we did." Sasuke stated. "And Naruto told me of this practice when he woke me up, that's why I helped." Sakura simply looked indignant as she took her seat.

"Well, since you kissed my boyfriend, does that mean I have to kiss Naruto?" Sasuke was unsure of whether it was eagerness or the opposite that he heard in her voice. Temari shrugged.

"It's up to you, or him I guess, if he decides it's worth whatever you might do to him, then he might claim it." She paused, looking at Naruto. "I should also say that the kiss is meant to be a bond of trust second only to that of marriage." Sakura blanched. "Are you saying that you basically just engaged yourself to Sasuke?"

"No, I'm saying that he is the only one I trust with my life other than Naruto." She stated as she took a drink of her tea. "If you don't want to kiss Naruto, that's fine." She once again smiled. "It's just more for me."

Sakura was not one to accept embarrassment. She looked at Naruto, uncertainty on her face as she bit her lower lip. _It's Naruto, he's saved my life, why shouldn't I trust him with my life?_ She thought. _Because you're afraid of your ability to control yourself with him._ The other half of her mentality said. The half that was never wrong about her feelings. _No! I have Sasuke, I'll always stay faithful to him. _She stood from her spot, and walked over to Naruto, who stood up, and pecked her on the lips gently before sitting down to his breakfast again.

"Naruto, Temari-chan kissed my cheek, that wasn't fair." Sasuke stated calmly, admitting that it was rather sneaky.

"All is fair in love and war my friend." Naruto's words came quickly and with a hint of a victorious tone. "Besides, now we're all family. This way, we'll have more of a bond, something more than just the fact that we were all assigned to a mission to keep us together."

"Stop talking, it's starting to make sense." Sakura said, her blush still coloring her cheeks.

Breakfast passed, and once again all was back to what it had been before, Naruto worked on his plans, Temari acted as a second mind, and brought him tea and snacks occasionally, Sakura and Sasuke were at the nearby academy building training medics.

Their first objective would be to poison the water supply, Naruto had ordered a specific concoction be made, it would be dumped into the supply while the attack was commenced, killing the enemy long after the invasion, and leaving no trace of poisoning. Then, they would be forced to stop using the water in the lines, which is when they'd turn to melting snow.

That was when their second objective would commence, they'd send in ninja to kill the men ordered to collect water. After that, they would disguise themselves as the men ordered to collect, and go around as those men, placing explosives, and then, they'd get the hell out of the main building, destroy the second building, which ran parallel to the first one, and destroy it. That second building was the armory, what better way to hinder a force than to destroy it's armory?

Third and finally, they'd let the enemy trail them, killing them as they trailed a faction of their group, while three of them killed from behind, Naruto's clones would then attack them at the flanks, which would force them to turn and run back to their base, which would be destroyed by the explosive notes planted all throughout the building.

---- ---- ---- ----

The two week long operation went off exactly as it was supposed to, One hundred and forty five enemy casualties was a successful mission. Naruto and Temari were currently sitting in the meeting room with the daimyo.

"You're saying that your mission went off without a hitch? Are you sure you did as much damage as you say you have? I want to make sure that I won't be hearing about the Oniwabanshu again after I wipe them out."

"Yes sir, I stayed behind and ran some recon, the ninja at the remains of the fortress said that we cost them as many lives. And we also destroyed almost all of their weapons, they are now limited to their personal effects, consisting mostly of kunai and a few ninja-to."

"Good, you have done well. When your friend Haruno Sakura is done training those medics in nine months, we will attack their base. And we will Annihilate them!" The daimyo planted his fist into his palm to accentuate his words.

_-Nine months later-_

Sakura looked at her graduating class of twenty five medics. Several of them lacked the chakra reserves, or the necessary control to be medics, many had also washed out, not having the will. They were trained as best as they could be in the Nine months she'd been given to train them, which was slightly longer than standard Konoha medic training of eight months. She congratulated them for their graduation, made each of them take the oath of the medic, and told them they were now ninja who were responsible for the lives of any person that was brought in for them to treat.

Naruto was sitting with Temari, Sasuke and Sakura. Their mission was complete, they had been called back to Konoha, they would not be participating in the attack that the land of snow was going to instigate.

-Chapter Nine: End-

_**Author's Note: This one was mostly a filler chapter, there will be some sort of action coming soon, but I really wanted to get them the hell out of the snow. I personally hate spending too much time in the thrice damnable white stuff. Anyway, the attack on the terrorist organization that is Oniwabanshu was basically just to give Naruto something to do. Next Chapter: Gaara bends the rules! Naruto and Temari take a trip to…(It's a secret!)**_


	10. Field Trip

I don't own Naruto.

-Chapter Ten: Field Trip-

Naruto and Temari had returned to Konoha, per Temari's request. "The place is growing on me." Was the blond girl's only defense.

Gaara had allowed her to go, releasing Naruto back to his own home as well. Sasuke and Sakura had returned ahead of them, the two were heading directly to Konoha, while the two blond lovers had a very sandy detour to take. This was, perhaps the best time they'd had in a while, where they were allowed to relax to some extent.

Naruto paused as he passed a clearing. He looked to his left, and saw a lake, it was a massive one, with deep, blue water. He turned back and smiled. "Let's take a swim, it'll be refreshing." It was getting to be fall now, so it would be their last chance to take a swim in comfortable temperatures.

They swam in the cool water for a while before eating a good lunch, and finally continuing on their travels.

Sasuke sat, drinking his sake, admiring the view of the village that he's forsaken before. There, his thoughts were filled with many things.

"I betrayed them, and they just let me come home. I left, gored Naruto, and they let me come home. Why? Is it because I killed Itachi? Is it because I never really did anything against Konoha?" Sasuke muttered his thoughts aloud.

"_**It's because you're important to them."**_ Sasuke's eyes widened as he heard the voice. _**"That's right Sasuke-kun, you didn't think you could avoid me forever did you? You did absorb me after all" **_Orochimaru's voice sounded in Sasuke mind, but it sounded muffled, like his own conscience was combating Orochimaru's.

"Get out of my head." Sasuke said. "You don't think I can't silence you?" The last Uchiha heard the voice of the Sannin as it boomed with laughter.

"_**You can never silence the voices! And in another three years, your body will die! This is the cost of absorbing another's soul!" **_Peals of laughter echoed in Sasuke's mind.

"I'll find a way to get you out of me!" Sasuke never realized the consequences of using the Sannin's own forbidden jutsu against him. _I have to._ Sasuke added silently.

"_**Boy, you don't know what you're dealing with, your eyes and their trickery are the sole reason that you even survived!" **_Orochimaru's disembodied voice shouted again. _**"Your mind is weak! But in time, your mind will fade, and mine will take control of your body." **_All that could be heard was the snake man's laughter. Sasuke silently shook the bottle of sake in circles, next to him was a second bottle, also empty.

_It's just a drunken hallucination._ Sasuke thought to himself, before standing shakily, and slowly treading his way down the mountain, into the village that was his home.

Sasuke woke the next morning with a hangover, his nausea prevented too much movement. Instead, he called for Orochimaru. No answer, it was then that the coughing began. Sasuke coughed and wheezed until he was sure his lungs would explode from his chest.

Naruto had been awake for several hours, he had a mission today, his job was to escort a group of medicinal herb collectors as they hunted for an herb that was said to cure a terrible respiratory illness. The mission was supposed to last three weeks long, it took him into arctic conditions high in a mountain range in the farthest reaches of Earth Country, it would take them five days to get there, the plant was said to grow on a certain mountain, also the largest mountain in that range, and the highest mountain on the continent. They would search for the plant, and journey back. Currently he was packing his equipment, his thickest gi, his warmest cloak, pants, sleeping bag, a face cover, much like a scarf, only thicker and longer, so he could wrap his entire head.

On his way out, he found Temari, awake on his couch. "Oh. Your door was open, so I came in." She stood up, a bundle in her hands. "I got you this, it's a coat." Naruto accepted the bundle. It was a trench coat, a rather thick one, lined with a woolen, blanket like fabric The lining was removable as well, so that it could be worn in a warmer environment as well, a belt was fastened around the waist of the coat. "I know you're going to an arctic environment, and I'll be damned if I let you freeze to death." Naruto kissed her.

"Thank you Temari, and you shouldn't be sorry that you came over unannounced, you're welcome here anytime." Naruto sealed the coat away and put it in his backpack. "I'm sure it'll come in handy. Can you check on Sasuke for me? I saw him staggering around last night, he was really drunk. Just make sure he's okay."

"I'll do that. Make sure you come back in one piece." She kissed him again as he left.

Naruto fixed his mask to his face as he walked into the mission hall, where he met his clients. One man was a large, powerfully built man, his name was Tora Okin, he carried a large red backpack, easily half his height, which was an impressive seven feet. He was clad in gray pants and a gi, Next to him was a younger man, much shorter, and much thinner. He was wiry, thin and strong, much like Naruto. His name was Nishin Arima. Arima was clad in black pants, a long sleeved shirt, and a gi over that. He carried a large pack as well, but it still seemed small compared to Okin's massive one. Both of them wore boots.

"I'm Okin, the apothecary that sent for your services. This is Arima, my adopted son and apprentice." The larger man spoke in a deep baritone voice.

"You may call me Kitsune. I'm the one that was chosen to escort you." Naruto bowed slightly. "Let's leave quickly, while it's still early. I trust that you can both keep a fast pace." Naruto had to keep as formal as possible, in order to maintain professionalism, and in order to not betray any of his habits. An expert tracker could find someone just because of how they said 'So there I was right…' or something like that. Naruto focused on keeping an ice cold demeanor. They departed from the mission hall.

"Sasuke's not doing well, he's been coughing up blood all morning apparently, vomiting too." Temari was standing outside. Okin's face showed surprise.

"That sounds like consumption, the same disease that the plant we're hunting for cures." Naruto turned and looked at him. "If we could see your friend, I could diagnose him, and perhaps if it is consumption Lady Tsunade could use some of the plant to cure your friend." Naruto nodded, and they headed towards the Uchiha compound.

Sasuke lay in bed, a bloody cloth against his mouth as he continued to hack up blood. It was then that he heard Temari again.

"Sasuke, I brought someone that you might like to see, but he's at work." The Uchiha knew of course, that she was talking of Naruto.

After a period of examination, it was determined that Sasuke exhibited all of the symptoms of consumption.

They set out again, Naruto, Okin and Arima. Their northwest bearing was easily traversed because of the road that led straight to Iwagakure. They would go through the village, but Naruto was aware of his likeness to his father, a man not well liked in the Iwa village. His mask was his ultimate safety, he was currently wearing a hood-like garment, his hair was an unusual color, so concealing it was in his best interest. All anyone would know about him is that he was an ANBU from Konoha escorting an apothecary and his apprentice. The first day, they spent mostly on the main road, Naruto was quiet as he listened to Arima talk about how he was going to find the most of the plant, which was used to make a medicine called Streptomycin, the only known cure for Consumption.

On their second day of the trip, they were required to take a second, much smaller path because a landslide had blocked the main road.

Workers from a local village were working on the road, busy moving rocks, dirt and debris out of the road. Naruto made a mental note of it, but spent little time thinking anything of it. Earthquakes happened on occasion, and they would destroy things. Roads were a favorite victim of earthquakes and landslides, being entirely reliant on the earth that they were packed from.

The third day took them near Iwa, a large section of the wall that surrounded the wall had been collapsed, several workers were quickly mending the wall with powerful jutsu. Naruto found this a little more suspicious, why would a ninja village be built on or near a fault line? There had to be something going on that he couldn't possibly understand. He would find out inside the village, hopefully he could learn something about the mountains he was going into, get some last minute equipment, and perhaps hear a good story of two. That would come later though, first they had to procure a dwelling for the night. They found it in a travelers inn, which gave them a good price for lodging, as well as good locations at which they might find information.

That night, Naruto wandered the village by himself, hoping to glean some information of the mountains, as well as of the plant and sickness which his friend bore. In a small tea house he found his information from an old wrinkled mountain dweller.

Naruto stepped into the tea house, disguised as a wandering swordsman, clad in kimono and hat, his sword was on his side, a knife hidden under each boot, and his cloak over his shoulders.

"Excuse me, I'm heading up into the mountains north of here where I've heard I can find a plant to cure consumption. I was hoping you could help me find someone to talk to about that." Naruto asked the woman who had brought him his tea. She pointed him over to the elder man who sat alone in the corner, drinking his tea.

"Come to ask about the mountain Leng have you? If you want my advice, don't even think about going there." The man said, on his arms, jagged and distorted scars lay.

"My friend has been stricken with consumption, they say that this mountain Leng is the only place to get the plant I can make the medicine from. I must go." Naruto looked up at him, his eyes fixed in a steel gaze.

"I see." The elder set his cup down, took a deep breath, and produced a pipe. "Then my next pieces of advice are going to be critical." The man took a deep inhalation of tobacco smoke. "Bring a strong warrior, one who knows how to combat all manners of evil."

"Evil?" Naruto asked.

"Yes, evil. On that mountain are things that you've never even dreamed of before. These scars tell of that story." The man held up his arms. "The beasts you'll see on that mountain are hideous in ways no one can ever hope to put into words." He pulled a book from behind him. "This is what I can tell you of the beasts you'll find, where the plant that we call mountain elixir is found, and what you should expect from the mountain itself." The old man sighed. "If you return, then keep the book, I don't expect you to come back anyway." The man paused. "I can feel your power, and even you might not be strong enough to face the beasts and demons that dwell there." The man again lit his pipe.

"Sir, I know not what I should call you." Naruto paused, thinking of a name he could call himself.

"Simply call me Alhazred. Now go, you have much reading to do." The man chuckled. "I'll pay for your tea."

Naruto picked up the volume, bowed, and left back to his home for the night. He noted to himself the man's own dark complexion, uncharacteristic of a mountain dweller, and the queer name the man held. It was so queer in fact, that he repeated the name as he sat in his bedroom, reading of grotesque beasts and strange fungi that dwelt on the mountain of Leng. Naruto set his hand on the sword by his side, feeling that after this mission, the blade, as well as his hands, would be covered in the blood of weird creatures.

-Chapter Ten: End-

_**Author's Note: I'm willing to bet that not a single person will be able to guess where I took the names Leng and Alhazred from. If you can guess, without using Google, then I'll give clues as to what the next few chapters will hold for you. **_

_**I tried spending a little more time on descriptions with this chapter, since it is a story, and stories are entirely dependent on description. Anyway, if you have any questions, feel the need to guess about my strange names, or just feel the need to say something, feel free to, I'll reply as quickly as I can.**_


	11. Stories in the mountains before Leng

I don't own Naruto, or Any references I make to any Lovecraft works.

**Bold is supernatural speech.**

_Italics is thoughts, flashbacks, the like._

**_A/N: So before I get started, I'd like to give my thanks to the faithful few, Kiiroi Senko, SPECIALGUY, Shyguy1818, and ozmose1991, this chapters for you guys(and maybe ladies), so you have them to thank for this one being finished so quickly. I let it sit in my uploaded documents for a few days to make sure that no one else was going to be on my special list. Now! On with the story!_**

-Chapter Eleven: Stories in the mountains before Leng-

Naruto had spent most of the night reading that book, he got to sleep at four o'clock, the apothecary Okin told him to awaken them at ten, after the coldest parts of the morning were past. Naruto was allowed a strangely large amount of sleep for the strange visions he saw, of weird beasts, demons, and of a ruler of a long past civilization. Naruto packed the scrolls that held his camping equipment into his black rucksack shortly after waking. The strange volume called the 'The Law of the Dead', it was a rather thick volume, telling of strange and far off places, beasts with descriptions he couldn't even fathom, and treasures, the likes of which would drive men to the ends of the earth and beyond into realms not wholly understood by man.

"**I knew I've heard that name before."** The nine tails rarely spoke of things that Naruto saw, it was especially rare that Kyuubi forgot things. **"Alhazred is the man that was responsible for the sealing of Cthulhu, the ten tailed beast."**

"Ten tails? I thought you were the most powerful?" Naruto heard the booming laughter.

"**Silly boy, Cthulhu is on a whole different level than I am. The nine tailed beasts are each one piece of a key that would unleash Cthulhu, much like your seal, our power combined would open a gateway of sorts to the realm in which Cthulhu is locked. That's why it's imperative that Akatsuki never get their hands on all of us." **The fox had intrigued Naruto, and terrified him at the same time.** "Alhazred was the man that taught ninja how to use sealing techniques. He is in many ways stronger than he looks." **Naruto saw the strong hands, the thickly corded neck, and the ancient looking sword next to him, the man was physically strong, and surprisingly youthful in the way he spoke, not like the Sandaime was, his slow, raspy speech. The man Alhazred spoke clearly, and his words were precise, each and every one meaning exactly what he wanted it to. **"It's said that he's the only man who's ever attained true immorality." **

"So then, you're saying that if I let the Akatsuki have you, then something even more terrible than you will be unleashed?"

"**Far worse. There's things in the world that could make that Hokage of yours look like a small, helpless child. Some of these beasts would even give you and I a run for our money."** Naruto shuddered at the mere thought of something strong enough to give him and his tenant a good match. **"Pray that you never run into the being called Nyarlathotep. Even Cthulhu was wary of him, it's much like the relationship that your friend Sasuke and you have, neither of you is stronger, but just the same, if you were to fight seriously, the fight would come down to which one of you is more efficient and can go longer than the other." **

"Regardless, we've got to find this plant, or Sasuke will die. I just got that bastard home." Naruto shouldered his pack, adjusted it so that it would fit well over his coat, and set it back down to wake Okin and Arima. Shortly after, Naruto and his charges were leaving the hotel, only to be stopped by a man dressed as a Samurai, a wakizashi and an old looking sword on his belt. "Alhazred wasn't it?" Naruto asked.

"I thought so, a Konoha ANBU, your demeanor was right, you make a good ronin. Anyway, I'm coming with you, I can't have four lives perish just because I was lazy." Alhazred was carrying a pack, a rather small one, but it was a pack no less. "Let's go, we won't be seeing the base of Leng for another three days. And then after that, we've got a three day climb to the caves where we can find our elusive plant." Naruto knew that the journey would be long, but he didn't expect the six day trek just to arrive at the mountain. He continued to feel pressed for time, not knowing how long he'd be searching for the plant that dwelt somewhere in a cave. There was no telling how long they'd be in the cave either.

"**That Uchiha is strong boy, he'll make it through this."** The Nine tails fox had hoped to comfort the boy.

"_I certainly hope so"_ Naruto spoke to his permanent prisoner.

They made good distance, everyone had pressed the pace, and they made five miles more than they'd expected. The second day, the entire group entered the mountain range that must be crossed in order to reach Leng, the dreaded mountain in which the Law of the Dead spoke of.

"Kitsune, regarding the book." Alhazred started, they were sitting around the camp fire, Okin and Arima had already gone to sleep. "You bear one of the nine tailed beasts don't you?" Naruto raised his eyebrows beneath his mask. "I thought so, your aura says so. I have to tell you, there's a demon that dwells upon Leng that I want you to avoid at all costs. They call it the Crawling Chaos, he's composed of these black tentacles, eyes as red as blood, and teeth white as alabaster and hard as quartz." Naruto had read of the crawling chaos, that dark beast, a sketch of the demon had been done in the Law of the Dead. "If we do run into the beast, let me take care of him."

"That sword, it looks to be very old. May I ask of the origins of it?" Naruto pointed to the sword beside the man. The man chuckled, picking up the sword he drew it. The blade was shaped as a katana, but twice as wide, and three times as thick. Matte black was it's color, the hilt was shaped as a manji, a symbol for luck and well being. The handle was wrapped in cord, and ended in a round quartz stone, shined and polished to a sheen. The blade's name was Soulsplitter.

"The sword was found in a temple to some foreign God, they called Nyarlathotep." Naruto heard the name Nyarlathotep, and shuddered.

"The Nine tails said that Nyarlathotep was the only being to ever best Cthulhu in combat."

"Nyarlathotep is indeed a strong being, but I know nothing of his battle with Cthulhu. This sword was said to be the blade that destroyed the God." Alhazred sheathed the sword. "I only hope that we don't run into the Shoggoth, swords and other blades don't work on them." The elder man explained that the Shoggoth were great gelatinous creatures, much like a white blood cell, it consumed it's prey, and crushed it into pieces. Legends told of how they used to be slaves to the Elder ones, but revolted, at which time, naught was known of the location of them, some were said to have returned to the sea, where their homes were, others were said to make deep caves their homes, while even more were frozen in glaciers and arctic weather.

"But of all the weird creations I laid eyes on, the ones called Migo were the worst, the least formidable, but the most terrible to see."

Migo were spoken of in the Law of the Dead, gigantic insect like creatures, with six crab like claws, all of their joints bending away from the head, towards the large, lizard like tail. On it's back were four fins arranged in two parallel rows. Above those fins that seemed to have no real use, two monstrous fleshy wings rested. The head of the monstrosity was a head that resembled a centipede's. three eyes were present on it's face, as well as antennae scattered across the head and face. Alhazred also explained that it's skin was tough as a clam's shell, and the only soft spots were it's joints.

"**He's telling you to dismember these things.**" Kyuubi chuckled.

"They're not massive, perhaps about five foot in length, maybe more, but they are fearsome fighters." Alhazred smiled as he pulled out his pipe.

The explanation of different things that were said to lurk in the caves of Leng went on into the night, more stories were also included, each of which was included in the strange book that Naruto now carried on his person. Pictures were drawn of weird beings with strange proportions. Many things that were drawn were very similar to Marine life and insects, the drawing done of Cthulhu showed a great beast on two legs, with arms as thick as massive trees, great membranous wings spread from it's back, and it appeared to bear a squid like head, bearing innumerable tentacles. On each of it's fingers and toes were great claws, described by Alhazred as designed for cutting and piercing. Next to the drawing of Cthulhu was what appeared to be a small person, the person came to about what Naruto assumed would be the ankle of Cthulhu, meaning that such a beast would be more than fifty feet tall.

"It was a big thing indeed, though I feel I might have gotten the scale slightly off, I'd say it was around forty feet tall, give or take, I had no accurate measuring tool at the time." Alhazred's wooden pipe leaked smoke.

"Still, forty feet is quite some height to aspire to." Naruto paused for a moment. "The Kyuubi tells me that you're immortal, and that you taught ninja how to seal." Alhazred nodded.

"I'm not quite immortal, I won't die of natural causes, and because of that, I've massed both great knowledge as well as physical prowess. I'm four hundred and forty two years old if you must know, I sealed Cthulhu when I was fifty nine, and taught the first sealing techniques at ninety seven. The ninja villages came to be not much longer after, I think it was forty years?"

"So you really are immortal? Life must get boring after a while."

"Never, I've traveled to realms of both demonic and heavenly beings, seen the bottom of the ocean, which is where I came across a sleeping Cthulhu, but was too fearful to confront it. I later got that blessing shortly after I found the Soulsplitter in Nyarlathotep's temple."

"Where is this temple?" Alhazred's laughter was quiet, but meaningful.

"It no longer exists, but it's ruins are in the underworld. It's a place I'd suggest you never go. Terribly hot." Naruto laughed this time. "Say, I'm tired of this Iwa place, they're too damn restricting on what I bring into their walls, what say you that I come to Konoha with you?" Silence was all that followed for many minutes. Konoha did technically have open citizenship to civilians, and a warrior who seemed to have fought so many strange creatures, surely had more artifacts of eldritch origins. What could Konoha gain from him, other than his being the lone teacher of all things that were seals? His sword, immense knowledge, and fragrant tobacco were on the list.

"I'll have to talk to our Hokage, but I'm sure that we could find something for you to do." Naruto spoke, his tone sounded sure, but inside, Naruto was unsure of what Tsunade would think of the man that was eight times her age. "It shouldn't be hard, there's always something to do around the village."

"I've got many skills, not just swordsmanship and the hunting of foreign beasts."

"No matter, let's get some sleep before the sun rises." Naruto knew that they would only be getting around three hours of sleep, but some sleep was better than none.

Morning came quickly, and so did the continuation of their trek towards the dreaded mountain Leng. This time, it had begun snowing, and the four travelers were already pushing through deep snow.

_-Konoha-_

Sasuke's condition had stayed much the same, he was still sick, and still coughing, often times blood would make it's way up to his mouth. Sakura sat next to him, making him as comfortable as possible, Temari was out getting tea for Sasuke, his favorite was green tea, which was said to have curative properties, especially for respiratory diseases.

Many of the Uchiha's teammates had heard of his illness, both his former teammates and the soldiers throughout the village. Rock Lee was walking home, carrying groceries when he heard it. A man who he knew to be a Jounin was sitting at a tea stand.

"That Uchiha is sick with consumption. Sounds like we'll finally be rid of that damn Uchiha family." Lee approached the man, grabbed his shirt and threw him to the hard dirt.

"Sasuke is an honorable man! Don't you dare speak slander of him!" The man stood up.

"I'll say what I want about whomever I please, you pathetic excuse for a ninja." In a flash, the man's nose was broken by the iron fist that smashed it with such power that he was sent rolling.

"You are the pathetic excuse for a ninja, with no honor." Lee sensed the man's friend and ducked as a sword passed right through where his neck would've been. An elbow to the sternum, and a right cross later, that man was laying flat on his back, unconscious. He walked over to the man who was still standing up, grabbed his hair, and pulled him to his feet, only to knock him down with a savage fist. Seeing the blood that he'd drawn, he stopped.

"What's going on here?!" three ANBU arrived on the scene. Lee explained the situation. "I see, it's unfortunate that these men can't be prosecuted, Sasuke was always a great ninja."

"He is still a great ninja! Naruto is going to the mountain of Leng in northern Iwa to get a plant that can cure Sasuke's consumption. Then he will return to his previous strength and restore the honor of the Uchiha clan!"

"Lee, your friends are very fortunate to have you. These two will be taken to the hospital and warned to be careful what they say, and to whom they say it."

"Thank you Neko-san." Lee bowed, and picked up his groceries.

The consumption was stirring up trouble outside of Sasuke and Naruto's lives, but village wide, The Uchiha was a very liked man by most, even branded as a traitor. Currently two fights were going on, Naruto was fighting the harsh mountain elements, and Sasuke was fighting for his life.

-Chapter Eleven: End-

_**Author's Note: Come on people! I'd like to know that people are reading my story! I know that Nyarlathotep and the Crawling Chaos are the same thing, but for this story, they're different. At first, it wasn't my plan to put Alhazred in this part of the story, but I decided to change things, in order to give Naruto an idea of what he's facing. I don't plan on having Cthulhu in this story, but much talk of him for this chapter. The fight with Lee and the Jounin was more because I felt that there wasn't any idea of what was going on in Konoha, and I wanted to show you that things are not carrying on as normal in Konoha. Plus, I think Lee would do something like that, being a man of honor and all. Maybe not to that extent. The Law of the Dead is the English translation of the word Necronomicon. Next chapter! Exploring the caves of Leng.**_


	12. Leng, The Mountain of Terror

I don't own Naruto, or any references to Lovecraft's work that I make.

**Bold=Demon/supernatural**

_Italics=Thoughts/flashbacks/stuff like that_

_**A/N: A funny thing, Alhazred is actually a loose Arabic translation for "To serve a Greater Lord". Anyway, if this chapter gets weird, blame the Meteors(Band), Lovecraft and my severe lack of sleep.**_

-Chapter Twelve: Leng, the mountain of horror-

Naruto, Arima, Okin and Alhazred had traveled for three days, and now before them stood the wretched mountain Leng. The summit was obscured by a large plateau, for it was a clear day, and one could see for miles around. The plateau itself stood atop quite a long hike, a day's trip for anyone but the most experienced climbers. To those that stood before the mountains as the only humans for several miles around, it would take half a day, perhaps three quarters of the day.

They made camp at the base of the mountain, and stayed there until dawn, before packing up and moving upwards into higher elevation. Naruto stood behind Alhazred, in front of Arima, and Okin stood farthest back.

The landscape was split by crevices, the ground strangely clear of much snow, as if someone had swept it into large piles at no particular interval.

"The cave we're searching for is about two hundred feet short of the summit." Alhazred said, he possessed a great knowledge of the mountain Leng, and many other forbidden places in the world.

Okin was apprehensive. Something didn't feel right about the mountain, he felt as if he was being watched. Never one to pay too much attention to his surroundings, he wondered why he felt this way. It seemed as if one hundred pairs of eyes were watching him from the crevices around him.

Naruto's senses were extended to their limits, he sensed presences all around, beneath him, in front of him. It seemed as if the very mountain was alive, it's own soul projecting terror upon any who could sense it. Naruto could feel behind him, Okin's fear. "Okin." He heard the man jump. "It's fine. The mountain has it's own presence it seems. Nothing will be jumping from the snow to harm you." The ANBU ninja was right in a sense, nothing did jump from the snow, but rather it burst from the crevice that they stepped over, a gigantic amorphous blob, with pseudopodia like tendrils, it gripped onto Okin's massive trunk. Naruto began running through hand signs.

"Fire Arts: Fireball!" It was a very similar jutsu to the Uchiha's infamous Grand Fireball technique, but on a much smaller scale. The blaze was closer to the size of a large dog, and hit the amorphous being with a sizzling sound and the smell of burning flesh.

"He was right Okin, nothing came from the snow, instead it jumped from the crevice." Alhazred smiled. "That's a Shoggoth, definitely would've put you in a world of hurt." He walked over to the large, burning mass of flesh-like substance. "There's definitely going to be more of them. We need to be more careful." The group continued on, the smell of burnt flesh still heavy in their nostrils for nearly a mile.

A half a day later, camp was being made, a simple camp of a pair of tents, and a fire pit. The camp was placed at the foot of the massive plateau, which looked to have a foot path about a foot and a half wide, winding it's way up the side. Naruto sat near the fire, embracing the warmth. Temperatures in the mountains fell to -45 degrees Fahrenheit, some of the coldest that man could stand for any extended length of time. The fire was quite large, enough for all four people to stay warm around the fire.

Naruto stared into the cold, black night around him, and felt more determined than ever to save his friend's life. He was the only one who was assigned to the mission, and as such, he was the only one to keep watch. Staying up for days on end was no problem. It was the fact that it would only get more and more dangerous as he got higher, the cliffs more precarious, and the beasts more dangerous, his nerves would fray, his reflexes would dull, and his sword would slow. Naruto knew he could catch a moment of sleep when Alhazred woke up, which he was relying on to guide their mission.

"**This man is strangely helpful, don't you think?"**

_I think that he doesn't want to see Cthulhu rise again. I would hate for such a damnable beast like that to tear apart my village._

"**You mean like I did?" The Fox sounded neither offended nor proud, but both. "I won't say I don't regret it, but I can't say I do either."**

_I won't say I don't regret having you sealed in me either. But I can't say I like it either._

Naruto was suddenly made aware of a dark presence, several of them in fact. When he looked around, he saw nearly a dozen emaciated and winged forms. The humanoid forms all carried claws and sharp fangs rather than normal teeth and nails. The skin that covered their bodies was black and dark. The Dark Young was their name. Naruto rose, his knives already drawn.

In a burst of movement, the first of the Dark Young was slashed through the throat. The other nine all lunged, but the chaos of nine bodies trying to heap themselves on one caused an opening to allow Naruto to escape.

"Clearly you guys aren't very smart." Naruto smirked beneath his mask. He saw two of the beasts lunge at him, he jumped over one, and landed behind it. Turning, he kicked it across the head, the bones of it's head were crushed beneath Naruto's metal shin armor.

With a step forward and a push kick, he knocked the other attacker away. Another step forward and a slash of a knife, and a single head rolled.

It was at that moment that he realized that three of the dark beasts had taken flight. He had no bow to shoot them down, and kunai flew too slow to hit them in the air. Naruto focused on the three on the ground, throwing both of his knives, hitting two of the Dark Young, before he reached the third one, his sword came around and cut the arm from a beast from the sky.

The third of the ground borne assailants attempted to use it's comrades loss of limb as a distraction to attack their meal. Naruto promptly lodged his boot heel into the beast's face. Pulling his knives from the faces of two beasts, he jumped into the air, meeting his aggressor head on, he lodged his knives in the back of the beast as he collided with it.

The tangle of limbs, wings, and steel hit the ground. The ANBU ninja smashed an elbow across the jaw of the grotesque beast. He stood, and dropped his boot on the face of the thing that had attacked him.

The final of the Dark Young took him by the side, slamming him to the ground, he caught the wrist of the beast before the ivory claws tore his mask from his face. Naruto used the ground to support him as he punched upward, his fist colliding with a rather solid jaw. A snap was heard as the bones of the beast's neck broke. Naruto pushed the beast from it's perch atop him and stood up. Around their camp lay ten bodies of a beast that technically didn't exist.

Gathering his blades, Naruto sheathed the weapons, and noticed the unbearable smell emanating from the dead bodies as they decayed faster than anything he'd seen. In a matter of mere minutes, the bodies of the ten beasts had decayed entirely. "Strange." Was all Naruto said, before returning to his post to watch for more enemies.

Alhazred exited his tent to smoke his pipe. He saw Naruto sitting there, in his previous spot. "Sounded like you had a bit of a scuffle before." Alhazred sat down. "Get some sleep, I'll wake you up an hour after dawn, when the other two get up.

Naruto woke up when Alhazred shouted, in a few short seconds, he was outside, and saw that nothing was wrong.

"Good, I figured that would wake you up." Alhazred was smoking his pipe and boiling off some snow to make tea.

After a quick breakfast, they continued their trek up the dangerously cold mountain. They movement, and a canteen full of a strange tea that Alhazred had made kept them from hypothermia. The four travelers continued on their way up the mountain trail, the narrow, spiraling trail that carried them all the way up to the top of the plateau.

"Kitsune, the Dark Young you fought, how many of them were there?" Alhazred asked. A trifle of an edge was in his voice.

"There was ten." Naruto answered. "Why?"

"Because the Dark Young travel in groups of fifteen to twenty usually. They've been called Night Gaunts because they only come out at night. So expect more of them tonight." Alhazred spoke almost carefully, as if each word was planned before he spoke it. "They'll likely be tracking us, since you undoubtedly have the smell of their clan on you."

"I killed ten yesterday, five or ten more won't be a problem."

"They're bringing friends, no doubt. If one Night Gaunt sees another tracking game, it'll follow. This happens until there's dozens of them." The old man spoke. "You and I will sleep in shifts tonight, you take the second half of the night. Since that's when they came last night." Alhazred saw Okin and Arima with their faces showing fear. "We're gonna get that plant for your friend, come hell or high water." Alhazred's words were a small comfort for everyone there.

The hike up the side of the plateau lasted for the entire day, all the way until night time. Naruto was set to take the second watch, he watched the fire as he ate his simple dinner when his senses picked up a noise.

"Alhazred, did you hear that?" Naruto picked up his sword. "I think we've got company, you two." He pointed at Okin and Arima. "Get in your tent. Yell if any of them try to get in."

Soon, lightning struck, and with the lightning, a great beast with red eyes, black skin, and claws as dark as it's skin appeared. With the thunder, it's roar. Naruto acted without thinking, and began hand seals 'Nine Tails Phantom! Release!" The Red mist enveloped him quickly. Nine ethereal tails formed behind him, the mist took the form of the fox.

"Well, I wish I could do that." Alhazred drew his sword, for he sensed a hundred different presences, each as evil as the next. "Well, I guess that I'm on my own then."

Naruto lunged at the dark beast, his hands shaped as the paws of the Kyuubi, the paws landed on the animal, and claws tore through skin like paper. Naruto landed on all fours, and swung his nine tails at the nameless beast.

Alhazred saw as dozens of the Night Gaunts surrounded him, he sighed, and in a flash of movement so fast, that a sonic boom was created, flew into action as he cut through a single body, then a second, and third before a single heart beat happened in any of the bodies. He saw several take flight, and threw his sword. Before the sword struck home, he'd finished his jutsu, and a massive fireball torched a dozen Night Gaunts in the air. He jumped forward, grabbing a single of the Dark Young, and swinging it at another, knocking it away as he pulled his sword out of a third one.

Naruto's aura flared, and the smell of burning flesh was elicited from the great dark beast as it fell to the ground, defeated. Naruto didn't stop there, he turned and in a massive leap, landed in the fray, and in a final move, flared his aura again. Alhazred sheathed his sword, and sat down and watched the spectacle as Naruto began to release the energy bound in the form of a nine tailed beast dissipated.

"Damn, I thought I was fast." Naruto chuckled, as he laughed, rolling his shoulders. "I'll be hard pressed to stay awake all night now."

"I'll take watch, you get your sleep." Alhazred pulled out his pipe. "You did good Naruto, the bigger beast was a different type of Dark Young, a much stronger kind."

"Well, I'm going to sleep. Wake me up if we have anymore guests." Naruto ducked inside his tent, and crawled into his sleeping bag.

-Chapter Twelve: End-

_**Author's Notes: Sorry for taking so long, and doing what I think might not be my best work, but I've been pretty stressed, add writer's block to the mix, and you have my reason for not having this out sooner.**_

_**Next Chapter:**_ In The Caves of Leng


End file.
